One Card Short
by KaibaGirl007
Summary: Seto thought that the alternate timeline he and Jack had accidentally created was in his past. He never once expected it to come chasing and catch up with him.
1. Chapter 1

**Part of my 'Doctoring The Blue-Eyes saga'**

 **Set after the final instalment of 'Birth of a Kaiba' : Seto aged 38.**

 **I own no rights to YuGiOh, Doctor Who or Torchwood 'cause I'm poor :P**

 **...**

Dedicated to **FutureStar27** and **AmethystUnarmed**

I returned to writing and posting my fanfics after a break of several years, and having lost my old followers and reviewers, you two gave me the encouragement to carry on when I was feeling low and push on to see two of my recent stories through to the end as a result of it; Thank you both for taking that little extra time to show your support^^

 **.**

 **Chapter One**

Jack's heart was heavy as he stood on the bridge linking Bute Park and Sophia Gardens to the north-west of Cardiff Castle. He'd been betrayed by the man he loved, and it hurt.

The darkness of the night had the ability to hide many things. Like the sight of the water gushing down his face that raced towards the choppy blackness below him, yet still he felt every last drop as they skimmed his cheeks, nose, lips and chin. Never again would he ever trust a word to leave the Welshman's mouth.

"You lied to me Ianto." He conversed with his husband via the com link in his ear. His voice was flat and eyes zoned out watching the reflection of the streetlights and sky on the River Taff's surface.

" _I did no such thing."_

"You did." He breathed tiredly. "You told me it was going to be dry, yet here I am stood in the pouring rain."

" _No, you asked me what the weather forecast was going to be so I read you what the MET office said."_

"And you trusted them?" Jack scoffed. A exceedingly large drop that had been gathering in his hair landed in his right eye.

" _Of course not, we live in Wales; it always rain here."_

"See! You did lie to me."

" _Nooo. I relayed the forecast as requested. Now if you had asked for my own intuition..."_

There was a flash and rumble as the cloud covered sky parted overhead. "About time!" The Captain laughed as the rift finally ruptured like he had been waiting for it to do so during the last ten minutes. He consulted the PDA now in his hand to see that something had seeped through close by. "Sorry Yantie, but the chit-chat will have to wait until breakfast. I'll see you once I'm done here."

" _Okay, take care."_

The link between them fell silent and once he'd safely re-pocketed the device, Jack raced off in the direction that had been displayed on its screen. His boot clad feet pounded the ground and sent tides of water up into the air as he hurried along the winding path beside the river to intercept whatever it was that had protruded from the rift.

 _Wonder what I'll be faced with this time?_ Several possibilities began to race through his mind. _A Weevil capture would make this fairly simple. An inanimate object would be even better. Though knowing my luck, it'll probably be something extremely savage. And hungry. Or maybe some poor lost soul who's been taken against their will? Oh please don't let it be another one of those Space Hares; after the last time, I never want to see another Duel Monsters card EVER again!_

The path became a muddy track as it wound inwards towards a cluster of trees and there in the scatterings of light that shone from between the branches and leaves, stood a silhouetted figure. His target was then clearly identified as female as she hissed and cursed before throwing a smouldering contraption down to the ground. A handgun remained in her hold.

"Drop your weapon!" Jack ordered as he drew his Webley and came to a stop around a dozen metres away from the girl; _Woman_ , he corrected himself. He saw her freeze upon his command and sensed the slight hint of fear secreting through the action that had been swiftly made. Even so, she made no attempt to release the gun in her hand, and he wasn't prepared to take any chances. "I said, drop your weapon! Place it down on the ground and knock it away."

Slowly the woman complied as she bent down and let go of her load before then kicking it clear from her,- as well as her captor's,- vicinity. Now that she had done as instructed she raised her hands up in a surrendering pose and hoped that her trembling hadn't been detected in the darkness.

With his gun still focused on his target, the captain calmly circled and approached the discarded wreckage on the ground. The smoke from it had now been extinguished by the rain. It was picked up for closer inspection but he failed to properly see what he held since it was covered in sloppy mud. Carefully he wiped the brown sludge away to reveal a logo that was all too familiar to him. _Kaiba Corp?_

"Where did you get this?" He asked curiously with his view still fixed on the two overlapping letters. _It doesn't look like it, but could this possibly be a hopper?_

Having received no reply, it was then Jack realised his mistake. It had only been for a couple of seconds but his re-diverted attention had allowed the woman the perfect opportunity for escape which she had immediately seized and was now bolting away from him towards more open ground. _Shit!_

The device was dropped and splashed as it landed back in the muddy puddle. He'd come back for it, and the gun, as soon as he'd restraint his target, and didn't waste a moment more as he gave chase in her wake. "Hey, come back here!"

A order like that was never going to be followed, and the woman pushed herself harder to try and increase the gap that was decreasing between them. It was no use as he continued to pursue her just as vigorously as she tried to evade. She soon felt that she was left with no choice but to stand and fight.

He saw her stop. A scared feeble figure making her best intimidating stance as she prepared to take him on. _Ha!_ Jack continued to confidently charge straight at her. _This won't take long._

Her pursuer's trajectory was swiftly calculated. Seeing the outstretched arms ready to land on her at any moment, she ducked and dived straight for his torso to send him up over her shoulders and plummeting to the ground behind her. Right leg raised high she pivoted and aimed to bring it crashing down on the man only for him to quickly roll away from her and back onto his feet.

"I don't want to fight, especially not a pretty thing like you." Jack tried his best to reason with the woman he'd underestimated and was now advancing on him. "But if you leave me no choice, then I _will not_ hold back." The blow he received to his face was the invitation needed to retaliate, which he did … and missed.

The woman hit him again after avoiding his punch and then followed through with a roundhouse kick whilst he was still off guard. _Don't make me to turn to more drastic measures._ She thought to herself as she watched him quickly recover and come at her once more. Far too many times she'd found herself a victim of the assaults of many men and had vowed never to let it happen ever again. No matter what it cost.

 _Enough games, it's time to end this!_ He feinted an attack to his left only to then swing right to where the woman had sidestepped and used the entire weight of his body to force her down. The two of them fought for dominance as they rolled on the sodden ground. _She's a lot stronger than she looks!_

Over and over they went. Each of them determined to be the victor, though they could only be one _._ And it didn't take very long for the winner to be declared as the woman straddled atop of the captain laid flat on his back. It was a position that Jack would have had no problem with, had it not been for the sharp, cold, metal blade impaled in his heart.

She watched as the man exhaled his last breath, face twisting in pain and eyes rolling back in his head. "You left me no choice." Her voice shook with remorse; killing was never easy, but the situation had felt very much a necessity for her. Taking hold of the knife's handle, she reclaimed the weapon that had earlier been concealed and wiped it clean using the dead man's muddy coat. It was placed back inside the pocket of her leather jacket and she got to her feet.

 _Did it work? Is this Cardiff?_ The area was surveyed too see that there was nobody else about, only patches of grassy areas and trees illuminated by the soft orange glow of the streetlights. A juddering sob escaped her lips and tears mixed with the raindrops on her checks. _Where are you? It was supposed to lead me straight to you!_

Knowing that it would do her no good to waste tears, the woman wiped her face and stared down at the lifeless body she now planned to pillage. The first thing she took was the old fashioned gun from the holster on the man's belt. It wasn't as sleek as her previous firearm but at least this one still had bullets. She tucked it under her own belt and began rummaging through the greatcoat's many pockets.

A beeping came from the PDA that flashed their location and a weight lifted from her conscience. This man had been tracking and expecting her. He was quite clearly a predator that she was well within her right to take down to assure her survival. His death would no longer plague her. For a moment she thought about pocketing the device before then deciding against, _just_ incase it would continue to monitor her moves and alert whoever it was that was now after her. She returned it to the corpse.

Next she discovered a pocket containing several items. A stopwatch; antique looking with the inscription _'Until my dying day',_ engraved on it's back. No doubt it held great sentimental value, and due to her own morals, was not something she would even consider allowing herself to take... A wallet; worn, battered, and when opened contained nothing more than a blank piece of paper. It was of no use... And a phone; an old flip model that she opened for further investigation in the hope of revealing more about her attacker.

Satisfied with her two spoils, the woman began to move away as she searched through the cell phone's call history and contact numbers. What she discovered made her heart flitter with fright when the name _'Seto Kaiba'_ appeared repeatedly as she continued with her check. _Were these two friends? Have I lost my chance to find him? No, of course I haven't. All I need to do is dail..._

"Leaving so soon? We barely got to know each other."

She froze at the voice that had sounded from behind her and slowly turned to be met with an impossible sight as the dead man now stood before her once more. "H-how are you alive? I killed you."

"Sorry to disappoint you Sweetheart, but it takes more than a knife to the heart to keep me down." Jack jeered in reply before seizing his chance and swung out at her whilst she was still in a state of shock from seeing his resurrection.

His fist collided with her jaw at such force that it sent the woman tumbling down to the ground in a swift one hit knockout.

 _8888888_

 **A/N: Not a lot this chapter, but it's a start.**

 **Reviews and feedback are most welcome :)**

 **KG**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to FutureStar27 and Peppertree for the reviews**

 **:)**

 **Chapter Two**

 _It's always times like these when I think of you,_

 _And I wonder if you ever think of me?_

 _'Cause everything's so wrong and I don't belong_

 _Living in your precious memory_

"Anathema."

 _'Cause I need you_

 _And I miss you_

 _And now I wonder..._

"Anathema!"

 _If I could fall_

 _Into the sky_

 _Do you think time_

 _Would pass me by?_

 _'Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles_

 _If I could just see you … tonight_

Anathema gave a startled jump as the earphones were suddenly pulled out of place and the sound of the music she'd been listening to also disappeared. With a nervous gulp she turned to face Seto seated beside her in the back of the limo. His gaze indicated that he was annoyed,- or at least disappointed,- with her actions.

"Did you even hear a single word of what I said?"

"Most of it." She ventured. Of course she hadn't heard a thing. She'd been too engrossed in her music during the ride to the temporary campus to have paid her dad such attention. Not that she'd ever admit it, nor would she blatantly lie to him either.

Something about her tone seemed off. "Look Kiddo, you don't have to do this if you don't feel ready..."

"Oh, but I am!" She assured assertively. He'd spoken to her about the induction course for the Duel Academy many times over the past few weeks now, and she had no intention of letting him down. "I'm just a little nervous, that's all."

"Don't be." He smiled warmly at the thought of her following in his footsteps of wanting to be the greatest Duelist she could be. "Just remember everything you've been taught, that way you're bound to hold the advantage over the others."

"Thanks Dad." She leant across the seat to wrapped her arms around him.

The hug was returned and knowing his daughter, and that she most likely hadn't heard him above the sound of the music still buzzing from her earphones, Seto repeated his concerns. "Did you remember to bring your deck?"

"Yes."

"Is it constructed to your liking?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

Anathema pulled back and gave him a quizzical look. "Yes Dad, I'm sure. _And_ I've got a side deck with me too. _And_ my phone is already switched off so there's no chance it will cause a disruption. _And_ I'm absolutely sure that I _don't_ need Takeshi to babysit me." She readjusted her head to shout through to the driver. "No offence Takeshi!"

"None taken Miss Kaiba."

"So you _were_ listening." Seto smirked as her eyes met his once more.

"Yes." It was a little white lie as he had practically told her a similar,- if not the same,- thing time and time again that it had become imprinted in her brain. "I'm not a child anymore, I'm almost a teenager now."

 _Where did she obtain that mindset? It certainly wasn't from me._ Seto thought as she stared back at him looking very much like the miniature version of her true father. Accept she had longer hair that hung just above her shoulders. "Don't be in such a rush to grow up. Enjoy your childhood ..."

"Whilst I can." She interrupted and finished his sentence for him. It was yet another thing he'd constantly tell her that she knew was usually spoken when he was most concerned. A reassuring smile grew on her face. "I'll be fine Dad. After all, I did learn from the best."

"There's no lie in your statement." He smirked again to use the situation to mask his true feelings of pride. "Now go on. It's time you were heading off to class; a Kaiba is never tardy."

Anathema's fingers found their way to the door handle and opened up the limo for her to alight.

"Takeshi will be back to collect you at four o'clock."

"Okay, I'll be here waiting." She waved and then closed the door to began her way towards the building.

"Have fun Kiddo." He whispered sadly as he watched her leave. A brief moment of doubt flickered in his mind as to whether or not he was truly comfortable with allowing her to be left on her own under Pegasus' watch. _Maybe I should insist on Takeshi staying with her? No, she needs to start gaining her own independence._

"They grow up so fast, don't they sir?"

"They do indeed." The CEO agreed with his driver's comment. His mind was now focused on the deck concealed inside his jacket's breast pocket and the three dragons that he would have gladly loaned her if she had only asked. But of course she hadn't. _Stop this needless worrying; she'll be fine._

The limo slowly pulled away from the curb. "Where to sir?"

"Kaiba Corp." His mood now changed and his eyes narrowed in conjunction as he focused on the task ahead of him that morning. "I have an important matter that requires my _immediate_ attention."

 _88888888888888888888888888888_

Anathema wandered further inwards on the campus. She could see so many other candidates entering into the building in front of her that she wondered what her chances of making it pass the induction course actually were. _Am I able enough to proceed beyond today? Will Dad be annoyed if I don't? As long as I give it my all, that's what matters, right?_

It wasn't long before she encountered a large group of young teens stood around discussing their love of Duel Monsters and past champion duelists. Standing on the outskirt of their gathered circle, she listened in on the conversation.

"... Truesdale was always _vastly_ superior." A boy wearing spectacles stated about his duelling idol.

The girl in a cherry print dress and lavishly draped with corresponding accessories who stood next to him disagreed. "Uh-uh, it was _Aster_ who took the title from..."

"He didn't!" Spectacles interrupted as he added the fact that Cherries had chosen to overlook. "Rebecca _gave up_ , her crown; _he_ was just fortunate enough to be the next duelist that it was awarded to. In fact, _she_ wouldn't have even gained her title if Yugi and Kaiba hadn't dropped out from the tournament in the first place."

"Why did they both drop out and stop duelling?" One of the younger teens who was present curiously asked.

"Nobody knows." Cherries shrugged idly as she pulled out a compact mirror and admired her flection as she spoke. This crowd was to be the start of her popularity amongst her peers as they hung on her every word. "Maybe they realised that they were getting too old for Duel Monsters? Maybe Yugi wanted to quit whilst he was ahead of the game, and in doing so guaranteed he'd remain undefeated? Maybe Kaiba finally accepted that his arrogant ass was all washed up and would never again raise above the third place achieved in Battle City?..."

"That's _not_ why they stopped duelling." Anathema muttered aloud as she held back the outrage caused by what she'd heard. Her dad was definitely not washed-up or arrogant, plus he only ever spoke of Yugi with the highest admiration; something she knew he would never do for anyone he felt was truly a quitter.

"And how would _you_ know?" The boy sneered maliciously at overhearing the younger girl impose on their discussion. His glasses slowly slid down the bridge of his nose as a result of the wrinkling that had been caused as he'd addressed the inferior classmate. With a single finger he pushed them back up.

Seizing her chance to make a confident impression and to be taken more seriously by the group, she spoke loud and proud as she declared, "Seto Kaiba happens to be my dad."

There were several gasps of awe and astonishment as all eyes fell onto Anathema in response to the revelation she had just made. Murmurs began to sound and the boy looked to the girl beside him in a silent plea for help to regain control of the situation. It was a plea that he knew was sure to be answered as he saw the heated look burning in her eyes that indicated she had no intention of standing down and losing the supremacy they had so far managed to gain.

"I bet that you reckon you're some kind of hotshot duelist, don't you?" Cherries sneered as she folded her hand sized mirror that made a loud 'click' noise as it was snapped shut.

"I don't reckon. I _know_ that I am."

"Well, will you look at that everyone; Like father, like daughter. Little Miss Celebrity here is the living proof that arrogance breeds more arrogance."

"I'd rather be arrogant than ignorant." Anathema shot right back as she was determined to stand her ground though wasn't going to waste further breath on correcting the details regarding her true parentage to the girl who was rude and quite clearly had it in for her. _What did I even do to you?_

"Haven't you heard the saying that ignorance is bliss?" Spectacles jumped in and poorly attempted to help with the ill thought out comeback. "She has it better than being a spoilt egotistical know-it-all like yourself!"

 _Back down Kiddo._ She could easily imagine the sound of her dad's voice inside her head as his teachings rose to the surface of her thoughts whilst she pushed back the mounting rage. _Some people will continuously look for conflict, but the battle they're fighting isn't with you. Just walk away. It doesn't mean they've won. It just means that their stupidity isn't worth any more of your time._

"Leaving so soon?" Cherries scoffed at the sight of the younger girl now turning away from her. "You gonna run back to Daddy and tell him how unwelcome you are after hearing a few home truths?" She began to laugh. "Loser."

 _I'll show you who's a loser!_ Anathema lost the hold on her anger and forcefully stepped back up to her slanging opponents. "So what if I'm egotistical? The opinion you have of me says that I have every right to be just that! What's your excuse for being a narcissist?"

Two mouths gapped in shock of the brazenness that had been displayed towards them. " _Kono ama!_ " The girl growled furiously whilst the boy held her back. " _SOME_ of us take _pride_ in our appearance. _Don't_ mistake it for anything else!"

"Yeah, we're not conceited!" Spectacles tacked on to the end of Cherries' rant.

"Haha!" The preposterous laugh failed to be kept concealed and she spoke aloud the phrase which had also been taught to her. "Those who think that they are not conceited are _truly_ conceited indeed."

A narrowed glare was sent the boy's way to indicate that his hapless comments were causing more fuel for the stuck up girl to use against them. The furious eyes then redirected towards her true bane. "You picked the wrong person to make enemies with Kaiba."

"I'm twelve; I don't have enemies." Anathema retorted despite the fact she heard the voice inside her head once more. _It is inevitable that as long as you remain honest and true to yourself, you will make and even accumulate numerous enemies throughout life. That's okay. But you must never fear them or give them what they need to destroy you. However, if you should happen to falter, then I've got your back Kiddo._

Cherries' nose curled in disgust that she'd let herself become riled up by someone several years younger than herself. "You're only here because Daddy pulled some strings for you. We'll soon see how much of a fraud you really are." She dramatically turned and made her exit with Spectacles swiftly in her wake as he struggled to keep in time with her clattering heels.

 _Good riddance!_ The thought was bitten back from being screamed out aloud and thus ensuring her dignity remained in tack as she would have most likely followed through with physically lashing out also. She'd wait and get chance to prove herself via the duels that were bound to await them later that day.

The sound of the high heels rhythmically beating the concrete ground soon come to an end as the teenager stopped and turned back around to see that the crowd she had worked so hard to manipulate remain where they stood. Murmurs could faintly be heard as they discussed amongst themselves whose company they preferred. Her eyes focused sternly. "Well what are you all waiting for? Hurry it up!" One by one, like a line of fearful dominos, they each followed after her as she and the boy grinned then began to stride off once more.

 _It's better to walk alone, than with a crowd heading in the wrong direction._ Her dad's voice reciting yet more words of guidance as she watched them all walk from her. _Those who do so are strong and self-sufficient enough to stand alone, yet wise enough to recognise and aid those who are not when they are in need of assistance._

Anathema's urge to yell out, with the promise of revealing all the details as to why the two greatest Duel Monsters champions of all time had given up participating in game they love, was almost overpowering. It was surely bound to draw the crowd back to her in order to settle their curiosity and also make her accepted amongst her peers like she wanted. But she held back. She was not desperate for attention like they'd most probably accuse her of. She'd get through the day without them. After all, was she or was she not a Kaiba?

Reaching into her pocket she pulled out the media player, inserted the earphones in place and pressed play to restart the song she was listening to that now came to an end whilst she remained all alone.

 _...'Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles,_

 _If I could just see you,_

 _If I could just hold you … Tonight._

From the third floor window overlooking the campus entranceway Alexis Rhodes stood watching the lone girl as she slowly walked towards the building. "I'd have thought that being a Kaiba would have made it relatively easy for her to gain popularity and mix in with the crowd."

"From your nostalgic point of view, _yes_ it would." Pegasus commented as he stood further back in the room though could still clearly see the daughter of his longterm business partner down on the ground below. "The entertainment and rivalry between Yugi and Kaiba that you experienced and admired first hand as a child holds sentiment in your heart, but to her generation it's next to meaningless."

"Next to meaningless?!" She seemed almost outraged as she left the window-side and approached the game's creator. "Anyone and everyone who has an interest in Duel Monsters are aware of their importance. Especially Kaiba's."

There was a light chuckle at the misinterpretation of his words. "That may be so Miss Rhodes, but whereas your generation,- caught up in the glorious moment of their competitiveness,- thought nothing of Kaiba's arrogance, her's only knows of what is written in history and doesn't think much of it either."

"They can't seriously be so cruel as to judge her based on his past?"

"Not all of them." He tried to reassure the finest teacher he'd known to grace the classrooms of his Duel Academy. "Though for the majority, their own self-righteousness of youth will prevail until wisdom is learnt. Each generation has this hurdle to overcome and for most, such ignorance will be outgrown over time." A pause as he watched her silently nod to acknowledge she'd heard his words before he then added, "You are _not_ to treat Anathema any differently, yet you _must_ push her to achieve her best. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir." Alexis confirmed with full confidence in her abilities.

"Good." Pegasus breathed a little uneasily. "I made Kaiba a promise of seeing that his daughter earns her way into the academy. I intend to see that it's fulfilled just so."

"I won't let you down, sir." She bid him farewell with a bow of her head and left the room to join her students for the start of their induction course.

Now alone in the room, he headed over to the window and looked down at the stragglers arriving late to the building that he would soon be departing from. There were many applicants this year. Not all of them would make it through the process of the entrance exam later that afternoon to guarantee themselves a place in his school. If requested, he would have gladly given priority to his friend's girl in order to cease the teasing that she was bound to endure from her peers.

His doubt over the situation caused a worried and concerned frown. _I hope you know what you're doing Kaiba-boy._

 _8888888_

 **A/N: The song used in this chapter is 'A Thousand Miles' by Vanessa Carlton. I had originally planned to use it as an opening quote for the story but then opted for the dedication instead so moved it to here.**

 **It is my first time writing her so please do not kill me if Alexis is written 'off'. I really tried to like GX but after 55 episodes it just didn't 'click' with me so I paid no further interest in it.**

 **Also, I apologise for the late update ^^;**

 **KG**


	3. Chapter 3

**Big thank you to FutureStar27 , AmethystUnarmed , and Peppertree for leaving reviews.**

 **/)^3^(\**

 **.**

 **Chapter** **Three**

Everything was in order for the usual work shift handover as Ryou waited alone in the underground base of Torchwood Five. Any moment now another of his colleagues was sure to arrive and relieve him of his duty, just like they always did.

He carefully rummaged through a pile of papers on his workstation in search of the important document he required but found nothing. "Where the bloody hell did I put it?"

Thinking that it may have fallen down the crevice between the two tables, he then lowered himself onto his hands and knees, and stretched his arm all the way back through the gap yet still found nothing.

The elevator shaft rumbled softly. It came to rest and the doors gave a swish as they opened to the sides.

"Joey Wheeler is in da house!" The blond exclaimed dramatically with his arms in the air as he stepped into the huge base area. He received no reply. Rubbing his nose, he scornfully muttered, "Well don't everybody greet me at once then."

Despite the lack of reception that his entrance had gotten there was still a spring in his stride as he took to descending the metal steps. Once at the bottom, he could see his colleague now searching underneath his workstation.

"Hey Ryou, you lost something?"

"Oh, Joey!" He snapped back into reality from the wandering that his preoccupied mind had taken. "I'm looking for a letter that I seem to have misplaced. I could have sworn that I … _Bollocks!_ " The curse came as he hit his head whilst withdrawing from the confined space.

Joey tried hard not to laugh but failed. "You want me to help look?"

"Please, if you don't mind."

Together they spent the next ten minutes turning the whole area upside down and placing things back again, but still found nothing. The sound of the elevator shaft could be heard once more.

"Sorry pal, no luck here." The blond wiped his hands on his jeans to clear the dust from them. "Was it important?"

"I dare say that it was." Came the defeated sigh as the swish of doors sounded in the background.

"BAKURA!" Seto's raised voice echoed throughout the air. "My office, _now!_ " His feet caused the metal stairs to crash like thunder with each stomp that he took as he came down two at a time.

"Uh-oh, looks like somebody's in the doghouse, and for once it's not me." Joey gibed at his terror stricken friend. "You what me to keep looking?"

Ryou shook his head. "No. I know where it is now."

Not wasting another moment for the fear of causing yet more anger, he hurried on after his boss and entered the side office just a couple of steps behind the towering CEO.

"Take a seat." Seto ordered sternly as he closed the door behind them.

With a gulp to try and dislodge the lump in his throat, he did as he was told and shakily lowered himself into the chair in front of the huge desk, whilst the other approached his own behind it.

"You have some explaining to do." A folded up letter of several pages was retrieved from the suit pocket and tossed onto the desk top.

"I was going to … I didn't intend … what I mean is … I … " Ryou's heart pounded double time as he stumbled trying to get his words out. He stopped, took a deep breath to help compose himself and then met the glare focused on him. "You had no right to read my personal mail."

"It's impossible not to read when you leave it lying around for everyone to see." Seto shot back instantly to the confrontational stand that he hadn't quite been expecting. He'd found the pieces of paper in question in clear view left next to the rift monitor when he had checked it the previous day. A quick scan of the cover letter informed him of the situation, and a further investigation of the documents attached told him of the decision that had been reached which could only end in his employee's resignation if he wasn't quick to act.

Taking the letter himself, it was something the CEO planned to address before the other had started his shift. Unfortunately he'd been unable to do so due to his own business meeting over running to the point were he dared not delay his return home to his wife. She was his priority, and so the confrontation had then been set back to become the first appointed task of his next working day.

"The choice you've made,- whilst admirable as it is,- is simply unfeasible." Seto now spoke calmly towards the man who had also become more reserved like his usual self. He too had let his emotions get the better of him and aimed to bring them back under control. "I can not,- _will not,_ \- allow you to leave your position ..."

"But I don't plan to give up this job, I wouldn't leave you in the lurch like that, I merely require some time off in order to ..."

"You _can't_ be the sole guardian of a child whilst working for Torchwood!"

Ryou froze and stared blankly at his boss' annoyed face for having interrupted him. He'd been correct in fearing that the subject matter was going to produce an awkward conversation between them. Although he was very rarely adversarial, the current moment called for him to stand his ground and not back down.

Having received the news of his third cousin once removed being left orphaned, and him the only known living relative, he knew what had to be done. "He's fifteen, so it's not like he'll be totally dependant upon me. Once he turn's eighteen ..."

"Wrong!" Seto barked a little too curtly. "His whole world has just been turned upside down and he'll now be completely dependant upon _you_ to help him regain some stability and provide him with the guidance he needs." His eyes narrowed as he aimed to get his point across. "You're well aware of the dangers that this job can hold. If something were to happen to you, he'd be right back where he is now, only then there'd be _nobody_ for him to rely on. And your importance to him won't stop just because he comes of age either. Once you gain parental responsibility it very seldom goes away. That is why I'm insisting that you ..."

"NO!" The chair he occupied was suddenly forced back as the Englishman rose to his feet and faced off against the momentarily startled expression staring up at him. "I've made my decision and I am not going back on it. If you think I'll be incapable of doing my job, then go ahead and fire me. That would probably do me a favour as it would mean that I can emigrate back to the UK instead and cause minimal disruption to him."

"You do understand what will have to happen for you to leave Torchwood?" The CEO scoffed in retaliation to the determined look that showed no sign of faltering.

"I do." Ryou nodded, knowing that he would be retconed and his mind wiped of all the time and memories spent whilst working as part of the secret team. "It's not ideal, but Tarquin needs me. I'm all he's got left."

Now slouched back in his chair with his chin resting on the woven fingers pointing up from where they rest on his chest, the brunet studied the self-confident man stood before him. "Is that what you truly want?"

"No, but it's what I'm prepared to do."

 _And that's what makes you a highly valid member of my team that I can't do without._ There was a hint of a smirk as Seto next spoke. "Sit down Ryou, and finish listening to what I have to say."

"You won't sway me on this."

"That was never my intention."

Brown eyes blinked in confusion. "But I thought. … ?"

"You can't raise this boy on your own." The CEO leant forward as he watched his employee reseat himself. "Let me help you."

 _88888888888888888888888888888_

Jack double checked that he'd secured the door leading down to the holding cells once more. With his captive having been tactical enough to overcome and kill him, he wasn't taking any chances of her breaking loose to potentially attack and kill the other two members of his team.

"Where's Derwyn?" He enquired about the young red haired man as he rejoined Ianto in the main area of the hub.

"Upstairs making coffee."

Lazily, the captain's arms draped around his husband's neck from behind as the Welshman sat on the chair. Multiple icons were displayed on the computer screen in front of them as the contents of the disc that had been confiscated from the captured woman was being investigated. "So what have you found?" He asked with his chin resting on top of the other man's head.

"Lots and lots of files,- maybe even a whole system?,- claiming to be the property of Kaiba Corp."

"Claiming to be? So you don't think that they're _actually_ Seto's then?"

"Not unless he's planning on starting World War Three, which I highly doubt that he is. Here, take a look for yourself." Ianto released the mouse from his grasp and felt the weight disappear from on the top of his head.

Still with one arm around the Welshman's neck as he leant forwards, Jack clicked on several random files. Each of them brought up details for a particular nasty looking and technologically advanced weapon of mass destruction. "I see what you mean."

Not bothering to close any of the windows that had been opened up, he pulled back and now inspected his watch. The timezone difference was calculated to give him an idea of where he would be most likely to find their friend. "I'll hop over to Seto and fetch him back here. He may be able to shed so light on all this. I won't be long."

A kiss was stolen from the younger man before a flash of light caused by the vortex manipulator took the captain away to his destination.

Now on his own Ianto began to close the many open windows and tabs displayed on the screen when his eyes suddenly caught a video file entitled 'Kaiba, N'. _Well what do we have here?_ He questioned himself as he recognised the name as that of his friend's stepbrother. His finger clicked on the mouse as the cursor hovered over the file.

The video footage started and fearful blue eyes then widened at the sight he was met with."Oh my god!" He whispered aloud as a one armed man was tightly strapped to the bench and began undergoing the waterboarding procedure that his captives joyfully inflicted on him.

"What are you watching?" Derwyn asked as he approached with a tray of three steaming hot coffee mugs. He too then caught sight of the green haired man coughing and spluttering as his body instinctively fought to stay alive whilst gradually drowning where he lay. "Ychafi!"

 _88888888888888888888888888888_

Rebecca was running late for work as she stood inside the confined space of the elevator. She impatiently tapped her foot knowing that it would do little else apart from display the anxiousness she held. Aware that her brother-in-law had a lot on his mind recently, it was hoped that her delay would go unnoticed as she'd hate to be the one that caused him to blow his top and be on the receiving end of the unintentional wrath that would be released as a result.

The metal box came to a standstill and doors swished open for her to alight. Across the room from her Joey stood extremely close to their boss' office. Any closer and his ear would have been pressed up against the door. " _What_ are you doing?"

"I'm um ... testing out my hearing skills."

"Uh-huh." She replied sceptically as she walked down the steps towards him. Letting her curiosity get the better of her, she then went on to ask, "So what's the scoop?"

"Well..." He bounded over to her with a heap of enthusiasm. "It all started when Ryou lost some letter of his ..."

There was a bright flash of light within the main area where they stood.

"Hi Jack." The two colleagues nonchalantly greeted the captain together.

"Is Seto around? I need to speak with him?"

"He's busy in his office giving Ryou a reprimanding." Joey informed the other man.

"Meh, it's important, I'll take my chances." Jack gave a shrug and approached the office door.

"I should also mention that he's been in a foul mood recently."

The captain froze with his hand just inches away from gaining entry to the smaller room. Upon hearing the additional warning he suddenly had no desire to face off against his friend who he would only anger more by barging in unannounced. "In that case, I'll wait." He stepped back from the door, only for it to open with the CEO now stood opposite him.

"No need to wait, we're all done." Seto stated since he'd heard the older man's voice through the closed door. He turned back to Ryou stood by his side. "If you hurry then you can make the next flight. Contact me when you're both ready to return."

"Thank you, I'll do just that." The Englishman bowed his head in gratitude before racing off to exit the underground base.

"Oh-kay, I'm missing something here." The captain spoke slow and uncertain to his younger friend as the soft rumble of the elevator traveling up the shaft hummed in the background. "Joey said that you were in a bad mood."

"Did he now?" A questioning look was sent the blond's way. His action prompted the other to fidget nervously and rub his nose. "Have you finished yesterday's reports?"

"Not quite." He sniffed in response.

"What are you waiting for then Wheeler? Get on it this instant!" Seto chose to ignore the inaudible mutter of complaint and then addressed his sister-in-law. "Becky, start updating the inventory without me. I'll be with you in a minute, just as soon as I'm finished with Jack here."

"Actually, I was kinda hoping you'd come back to the hub with me." The captain cut in. "I've got some things that I think you should see."


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you to AmethystUnarmed and FutureStar27 for leaving reviews :D**

 **.**

 **Chapter Four**

The lecture theatre was slowly filling up as the students entered and seated themselves ready for their induction course to begin. Anathema sat alone towards the back of the rows and glared across to where Cherries and Spectacles were situated down near the front amongst their legion of followers. Feeling somewhat bitter towards the group she had attempted and failed to join as she watched them all laughing and joking, she chose to lose herself in the tracks of her playlist to help vanquish the negativity.

… _Well we rushed it_

 _Moving way too fast_

 _That we crushed it_

 _But it's in the past_

 _We can make this leap_

 _Through the curtains of the waterfall_

A boy with short white hair approached and stood over her. "Hi."

 _So say Geronimo_

 _Say Geronimo_

 _Say Geronimo_

 _Say ..._

"Geronimo." She breathed whilst making eye contact with the cute boy. What was he doing talking to her? Realising her unintentionally slip if tongue, she stopped the music, pulled out her earphones and began to blush. "I mean, hi."

"Is anyone sitting here?" He indicated to the empty seats at either side of her.

 _What do you think?_ She thought sarcastically before simply replying, "No."

"May I?" The boy smiled.

"Go ahead."

He sat down and extended his hand as he introduced himself. "My name's David."

"Anathema." She took his hand and shook it. _Yes!_ It was a small victory but she'd just made a potential new friend. Would he be put off once he knew her last name and who she was?

"You look so sad sitting up here all alone, why aren't you closer down to the others?"

Nervously she looked back over towards the girl and boy from earlier. They saw her staring, pointed to gain several of their groupies' attention and began laughing once more. "My first impression on them didn't go down well. We have ... conflicting opinions."

"Well that's their loss. The first impression that you've given me has been that you're a friendly welcoming person. You'll be far better off without the likes of them who fail to appreciate your good natured company."

She could feel herself beginning to blush from hearing his kind words and continued the conversation. "So why are you up here and not down there?"

"I didn't exactly make a great first impression on them either." He looked down at his hands that remained calmly on his lap. "Once they discovered that I'm a noob, nobody would even talk to me."

"Everybody was a beginner at some point."

Teeth could be seen as the boy gave a humorous sneer to her words. "When I say I'm a noob, I don't mean that I'm a beginner. I mean that I literally know _nothing_ about this game."

"Then why are you here?" Anathema blinked in confusion.

"Because of my father." David started to explain. "He can be quite strict and insists that I continuously learn new things in order to better myself. He says that it keeps the brain active and young." He looked up from his lap and stared at the girl beside him. "I don't even want to be here and would just appreciate someone to call a friend and help me get through today."

She smiled at him. "I can do that."

The room became noisy as all the students talked amongst themselves as they waited for the teacher to arrive. It wouldn't be too much longer now before they'd be taught about Duel Monsters, then sit a brief test and an actual duel that afternoon, in order to try and secure their place at the Duel Academy. Competition was sure to be fierce, but Anathema was confident that as long as the boy she'd befriended was willing to learn from her, then they'd each succeed in proving themselves to their respective fathers.

"Okay class, settle down!" The blonde called for attention as she entered into the room. She clapped her hands to reenforce the command and gradually the lecture theatre fell silent. Once at the podium she activated the holographic projector that displayed her handwritten name as it was beamed up into the air. "My name is Alexis Rhodes and today I shall be teaching you the basics of Duel Monsters."

The projector was wiped clean and then the iconic backing of the game's cards was visible in the air for all to see. "First up, as a tester to see how much you already know, we are going to have a brain-storming session of things that are important to consider when constructing your deck. Hands in the air with your suggestions."

More than a dozen arms were raised high and the selection progress began as she pointed to each student in turn for them to reveal their answers. "Monster cards …"

"... Spell cards ..."

"... Trap cards ..."

"... Offence ..."

"... Defence ..."

"... Strategy ..."

"... Theme ..."

"... Ratio ..."

"Very good." Alexis praised as she jotted down the string of the suggestions put forward to her and that now circled around the holographic card. "But there's one more thing that hasn't been mentioned yet." She glanced around the room and found her chosen target. "Kaiba, can you tell me what it is?"

Anathema froze in her seat. Why was she being singled out? None of the other students had, so why had she? She now found herself the centre of attention as all gazes were drawn her way. Her eyes wandered down to the girl and boy now sniggering at her startled reaction.

"Kaiba." The teacher repeated herself. "I understand that you've been duelling for some time now. So what is it that your deck is likely to contain that most others here don't?"

Murmurs began to sound and prompted the scoff of, "Try all three of Daddy's Blue-Eyes White Dragons."

"That's enough!" Alexis barked at Cherries who fell silent from having made the leering taunt. She glanced back at the green haired girl now clutching at the locket around her neck. _Was I wrong to have expected her to know one of the first things that a champion would surely have taught her? After all, Kaiba always was the skeptical kind. I seriously hope that I haven't just made her a laughing stock in front of her peers._

The girl continued to cling to the memento of her true father who would always be with her in spirit, and so would his deck. _I'll show you, and the rest of them!_ She thought in regards to the girl mocking her. "Heart." Her answer was spoken assertively. "That which represents the familiarity, compatibility, reliability and overall faith in the cards you have chosen."

"Good girl." Her student was praised with a proud smile. The answer was added to the projection and the brain-storming session was brought to an end, ready for them to make notes from the information that had been collected.

 _888888888888888888888888888888888_

The two friends arrived at the hub in multiple flashes of light as they each made the jump via their own devices. Neither of the waiting Welshman seemed fazed by their sudden entrance as they remained fixed on the computer screen in front of them and swiftly closed several open window tabs.

"Derwyn!" Jack shouted instantly. "We're gonna need another ... coffee?" He was astounded to see the redhead already approaching with a steaming mug presented before the CEO. An amazed glance was sent in his husband's direction.

"What can I say?" Ianto spoke with a deadpan tone that hid his feeling of pride towards his fellow colleague and apprentice. "He learns from the best."

"Too true." The captain agreed as his friend took hold of the drink and the three of them walked over to congregate around the Welshman seated at the workstation. "Now, inform Seto of everything we have on our latest _'visitor'_."

"A Jane Doe from through the rift." He began reeling off the facts. "Armed and skilled enough to take Jack down with a knife through the heart. She discarded what looks to be a makeshift hopper, only badly fried and poorly built. Other belongings that were confiscated include an empty firearm and a computer disc containing what seems to be a whole system worth of data marked as property of Kaiba Corp."

Seto placed down the mug and examined the burnt out device that bore his company's logo. There was once a time when his first thought would have been that the woman was some kind of plagiarist, but knowing what he did now, he couldn't help wonder if she was a time traveller and had the device been reduced to its current state because of its incapability to function properly? Next he looked over the gun; a Beretta identical to his own. Although he despised such things that were sometimes necessary in this line of work, his choice had been made _purely_ on one man's high praise of the weapon. "Let me see those files."

The mouse was handed over and he clicked on several icons that displayed blueprint type documents. "This can't be possible, these are,- _were,_ \- Gozaburo's." He opened yet another file containing plans for a deadly weapon of mass destruction. "But I got rid of these many years ago, either by deleting them myself or they were confiscated by UNIT."

"Don't forget to mention the videos."

"Videos?" The captain questioned the youngest Welshman who had spoken.

"Thank you Derwyn, I _was_ going to mention them." Ianto drawled as he saw his friend locate the folder on the screen in front of them. "Your stepbrother's name is amongst them."

Searching through the names displayed, Seto located Noah's entry then continued to scan down and across until he spotted McKenzie, K and McKenzie, S also on the list. _McKenzie; my original surname. Is it possible those files relate to me and Kisara?_

" _DON'T_ click!"

"Why not?" He questioned his friend with a hint of irritation as his hand was forcefully knocked away from the mouse.

For a moment there was nothing but silence until Derwyn softly mumbled, "They're execution videos."

 _They're what?!_ The CEO stared in horror at the screen and the name he'd almost clicked on that he was certain would have shown his wife,- or at least some version of her,- murdered before his very eyes. It had been traumatic enough to recall the vision of her dying from ancient Egypt that he'd witnessed during his youth, and he had no desire to witness another, nor his own death for that matter either. "This woman you're detaining, take me to her."

Without questioning, the captain led him down through the hub's network of tunnels and into the holding cell area. There behind the reenforced transparent door, the female lay unconscious on the concrete slab. He studied the face that was bruised where the woman had been struck to render her unconscious. Although she was now older, and her hair dark brown instead of the black he remembered, there was no mistaking her identity.

"Open the door Jack. She doesn't pose a threat to us."

"Doesn't pose a threat?! Seto, she _killed_ me!"

"You look alive and well enough now though."

"Seto?!" Eyes that had been feinting sleep flew open and the captive flung herself at the glass door where she stared in wondrous awe at the man she'd been searching for. "I knew it! I knew you weren't dead, I _knew_ that bastard was lying!"

The captain gave his friend a questioning glance. "You know her?"

"I do." He nodded in response. "She's my sister, Keiko."

 _Sister?_ Jack was momentarily stunned but then remembered about the alternate timeline they had both created which had caused his friend to originally seek him out. _Well I guess it does make a little sense._ He deactivated the lock and the holding cell door slowly opened.

Warily Keiko stepped out from the tiny room and towards the brother whom she hadn't seen for years. "I found you." She lunged at him and embraced him tightly as her eyes began to well up.

Seto frowned as he looked down at her now crying as she buried her face in his suit jacket. What had happened to her and why was she here? He was about to ask when suddenly she pushed back from him.

"TWO WEEKS!" She cried in distraught and lashed out to pummel his chest with her fists. The way he'd walked out of her life, leaving her and Kisara screaming for him to return to them at the airport's boarding gates, had never been forgotten. "You fucking lied to me! You deceived me! You _abandoned_ me!"

"I had my reasons ..."

"BULLSHIT! What reason could you possibly have to just walk out on your family?"

He now began to feel extremely uncomfortable and guilty as he watched her breakdown and sob even harder. She may not have been his genuine sibling, but to her he was the only brother she had ever known. Correcting the timeline so that Mokuba's birth would once again take place had been his priority, not her. "Keiko, I ..."

"You're what? Sorry?" She scoffed, her angry tears now coming to an end. "That's not going to cut it Seto, not this time. You promised me, and Noah, that you'd be back in _two weeks_ , and almost nine years later you're still here like it meant nothing at all." Her lip began to wobble and eyes refilled with moisture. " _I_ needed you... _Kisara_ needed you... _Mom and Dad_ needed you... and you weren't there." The sobs restarted.

The CEO caught sight of the captain's baffled yet stern looking face that made him feel even more at unease. _What the hell does he expect me to do?_ Hesitantly he took Keiko in his arms and held her close whilst she shuddered and cried into his chest.

"I _finally_ found you." Her voice was now as soft as a whisper and her arms raised to tenderly hug him.

"Tell me what happened." Seto gentled prompted.

Her reply came in the form of the name of the man who had destroyed her whole world; "Gozaburo Kaiba."

 _8888888_

 **A/N: The song featured in this chapter is "Say Geronimo" by Sheppard. Figured that since the 11th Doctor will feature in this fic that I'd slip his catchphrase in somewhere, and without him saying it too.**

 **Keiko's return to this saga is loosely based on something I had dropped from 'Doctoring The Blue Eyes' original plot as I felt it would take too long to execute in that particular instalment, so altered and reworked it for this instalment instead.**

 **My apologies for the delay in updating. I got overwhelmed with health issues and had to take a step back for a while.**

 **Next update will be 20th August as I'm off on holiday tomorrow and will not return and have internet access until then.**

 **Take care my Sweeties,**

 **KG**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you AmethystUnarmed for the review :)**

 **.**

 **Chapter Five**

The morning's duelist session seemed to fly by as the students now found themselves dismissed for lunch break. Those not taking advantage of the tiny cafeteria slowly oozed out of the building and onto the campus grounds. Some had brought their own food to eat alfresco whilst others planned to venture further afield in order to acquire their meal.

In an attempt to show his gratitude, David had offered to take Anathema to lunch. To his delight she had accepted and the two of them began their way into town in search of the perfect dining establishment.

"Well that wasn't _'as bad'_ as I had been expecting." He admitted his thoughts about the course that he hadn't wanted to attend in the first place. "Thank you so much for taking me under your wing. I'm sorry that I made you repeat yourself and took so long to grasp hold of the explanation about tributing costs."

"You're welcome." She assured with a slight blush, as the two of them walked side by side. It hadn't mattered how many times she'd had to explain things to him, she enjoyed his company and hoped they'd remain friends once the day was over.

"Kaiba!" The sound of Cherries' voice called after her.

 _Great, just what I need, more ridicule!_ Anathema rolled her eyes and kept on walking.

"Hey, I'm trying to apologise!"

 _Apologise?_ She stopped, willing to hear the other girl out if she was indeed genuine, but also made sure that she stayed in control of the situation as a clear indication that she was not going to allow herself to become subject to further mockery. "Okay, you have sixty seconds of my time."

"Look, I'm sorry about earlier when we got off on the wrong foot. I let my personal opinion of your old man cloud my judgement of you. I thought you were purely using your parentage to get into the academy, but it looks like I was wrong, you actually know your stuff."

The older girl seemed sincere with her words and Anathema decided that perhaps she should just let bygones be bygones. After all, everyone deserved at least one second chance. That had been what her dad had taught her and she would abide his teachings.

"Yeah, you're nothing like the pampered princess we were expecting."

"Thanks, I guess?" She spoke warily as Spectacles piped up to add his own opinion.

"Well now that's sorted, why don't you ditch the ' _noob'_ and come hang with us, where you _truly_ belong." Cherries and the rest of her legion waited for a response.

Anathema bit her tongue as she glanced over her shoulder towards the white haired boy she'd befriended. Should she really abandon the only person who had paid her any attention just because some girl who was oblivious to her own self centred arrogance had told her to do so? She'd certainly become popular with the rest of her peers if she were to join the group. Was that what she truly wanted? The corners of her mouth sharpened into a trademark Kaiba sneer. "Actually, I'd rather hang with the 'noob' instead of you 'losers' any day."

With her choice now made as she shunned the two-face girl who had just blown the second chance that had been given, she returned to her _friend_ and the two of them continued on their way as they headed into the city centre.

 _888888888888888888888888888888888_

 _# Bullets fired down the halls as the Resistance stormed the main Kaiba Corporation building. The inside information that they had managed to gain, after many months of infiltrating the enemy's ranks, informed them that this would be their best opportunity to take down the evil dictator once and for all. It was an attack in which the final chips had been placed. If they couldn't stop him now, then his rein of terror would no doubt continue and his ultimate plan of world domination carried out._

" _I hope our informant was right." Keiko breathed as she, Roland and several others took shelter around the corner of the current shoot-out taking place. "I would hate for all this to be for nothing."_

" _Don't loose faith; we 'will' succeed." Roland assured the girl whose spirit he'd witness diminish over the months since their leader had been killed. Even if their assault was to fail he still believed that having taken out those closest to Gozaburo it would cripple his efforts greatly to the point were another group planning an attack would be able to easily swoop in and finish the job they had started; though ideally it wouldn't come to that as they'd see it through to the end themselves._

 _Another two of their comrades,- as well as the whole team of six of the opposition,- fell as the shooting continued. With the level now rid of those positioned there to defend it, the remaining three members of the group moved up to the next and final level of the building._

" _Do you think Noah's watching?" She asked enthusiastically despite the dire situation they were in. If she didn't keep herself distracted by talking to the older man then she'd most likely wallow in the lost lives of her acquaintances._

" _The downfall of his father? I'm certain of it."_

 _More firing commenced as they arrived on the top floor and their last remaining comrade was hit multiple times. Keiko, who was out of ammunition for her firearm after trying to defend her now deceased teammate, narrowly avoided injury herself as she was swiftly forced to one side._

" _Roland!" She cried as he had shielded her from the spray of bullets. Extreme panic set in as she tried to hold him upright as he slumped against her. Blood oozed out of the wounds to his arm, shoulder and back, and she knew it wouldn't be long before he bleed to death._

" _Take this." He ordered as he placed his favoured gun into her hand. "There's three shells left; use them wisely."_

 _She looked down at the Beretta she now held. Her throat tightened as she knew this was the final goodbye to the man who had guided and protected her like a father since she had lost her own family. "I won't let you down."_

" _It's been a pleasure knowing you Keiko." There was a heavy hearted smile, aware that his time had come but that his end would not be wasted. He inserted the last cartridge he had for his remaining weapon and gestured for her to run. "Now go, I'll take out as many as I can before I fall."_

 _With a tearful nod of her head she darted off down the opposite corridor, leaping over her previously fallen comrade as she did so. As the shots rang out she dared not look behind for the fear of seeing the loyal friend gunned down fighting to the death to defend her so that she could complete their cause._

 _The room she'd been looking for was soon located. It was locked but opened after many repeated kicks that demolished the handle and locks. "Freeze Gozaburo!" She entered with a shout._

 _Gun raised and held out in front of her, Keiko speedily approached the high backed chair that was turned away from her behind the desk at the far end of the office. He had to be seated in it, there was nowhere else he could be in the room. However, when she got there the chair was empty. She franticly searched the office which was also empty._

 _It wasn't possibly. The building had been monitored and surveyed for days now. He had entered the building almost a week ago and had not emerged since; he had to be inside the building … somewhere. Maybe she'd missed him on the way up? No, that wasn't possible either as each floor had been swept clear before each ascent._

 _There on the desk she noticed a strange looking device. She pocketed the weapon she held in order to pick up the contraption and give it a closer look. What was it? Some vague notes in scribbled handwriting that she recognised as belonging to her brother,- he wasn't dead!,- accompanied it but made little sense about it having the potential to grant the wishes of the heart's desire to travel unbelievable distance._

 _BANG! The shot had been merely a warning to startle her as two men stood in the open doorway leering her way. "See, I told you it was her. Why don't we finish what we once started?"_

 _No! She hadn't overcome everything she'd been through to be abused at their hands again and would stop them before they got a chance to force themselves upon her. The Beretta was drawn and thanks to the expertise training Roland had given her, she delivered a fatal blow to one of the men and a crippling blow to the other whose weapon fell and landed just beyond his reach._

" _Answer my question or I'll kill you were you lay!" Keiko snarled as angrily as she could muster whilst towered over the wounded man with her weapon's barrel aimed directly at his face. The urge to blast his brains out was immense after what he had done to her, but she held herself back knowing she had bigger fish to fry."WHERE is Gozaburo?"_

" _He's not here, he's gone." He spotted her finger tightening on the trigger. The man's true colours shone via his cowardly betrayal. "He mentioned something about finding a key and disappeared in a flash of light. I SWEAR it's the truth! I don't know anything more! … Please don't kill me."_

 _There was a moment of hesitation as she contemplated her next move. Roland had informed her that there had been three bullets left in the gun, two of which she had just used so she needed to keep the remainder for Gozaburo himself. Of course the coward at her feet didn't need to know that. "If you move one inch from that spot then I will mutilate you in exactly the same way that you did me, understood?" A vigorous nod was received as she backed up to the desk once more._

 _Keiko scanned her brother's notes again but still they made no sense. They were just as cryptic and obscure as he was to her. She then realised that there were two sets of papers,- one of them marked 'prototype' and the other showing amendments in several areas,- but only one device. Had they once been two also? Was this how the dictator had managed to avoid detection? Did it really work?_

 _Out of the corner of her eye she saw the man move in an attempt to reclaim his weapon. Without havering she let off the last round to cause the sound of an almighty scream as he was hit in his nether regions. It was a scream that she felt was exaggerated as he had only been hit on the outside of his body; it was nothing like the exploded internal organs he had inflicted after raping her before then leaving her for dead during the raid on the family home that had also seen her parents murdered before her very eyes. He hadn't quite got what she felt he deserved, not by a long shot and no remorse would be shown. She currently had other matters to attend to and wished she was reunited with her brother in the hope that he could answer some questions on the device that may lead to tracking down Gozaburo._

 _Only trouble was that she had no idea where to find him. The last time she had seen her brother was as he boarded the airplane for the UK and his journey to Cardiff … "What the?" The contraption in her hands began to glow and become hot as a bright light enveloped her._

 _As suddenly as it had appeared the light vanished. She hissed as she swore and dropped the device to the ground were it landed with a splat. Why was she outside? In the dark? And the rain? Had it actually worked and reunited her with her brother?_

" _Drop your weapon!" A man in a long flowing greatcoat ordered as he approached with a gun pointing directly at her. She may have found herself outside the Kaiba Corporation building, but she had a feeling that she wasn't safe yet. #_

Keiko's recollection of the takeover that had occurred and how she had appeared through the rift came to an end. She sat there, head hung low and shying away from the four men as the memories of her past stirred up a whole heap of unpleasant emotions within her. It hadn't been something that was revealed lightly but that she felt needed to be said in order to make them see the seriousness of the horrific situation that had been left behind her. Now she waited patiently for them to react and question her further as she assumed they would.

 _I was highly aware that he,- or at least 'my' stepfather,- was a dangerous and powerful man to cross, but I never would have thought Gozaburo actually capable of inducing a reign of terror on such a huge and vastly drastic scale as she says._ Seto was still processing all the things that he had just heard as he viewed his sister with a pitying look. She was yet another person,- along with their parents, and his 'other' wife, child, friend and self,- that he'd cared about to suffer at the hands of _that bastard_ , and there hadn't been a thing he could have done to stop it from happening. _If only I hadn't turned away in search of correcting things back to my original life?_

A stern look from the captain, as though Jack had been able to read his mind, told the CEO that he should not resort to blaming himself. _That kind of attitude never got anyone anywhere Seto. This would have happened with or without your interference and it's only the fact that the timeline managed to split itself into two that you are actually aware to both existing side by side._

"I don't get it." Derwyn broke the silence. His freckled face was creased and furrowed with confusion as he failed to grasp everything that had been said. "If this guy is on the verge of starting a world war, how can it be so one sided in his favour? What made him become so untouchable?"

"Try the fact that before the company became mine, Kaiba Corp's weapons were supplied to and stockpiled by the world's superpowers and terrorist groups alike." Seto stepped in to answer questions. He knew his stepfather's mindset all too well,- even if he was from an alternate timeline,- and felt that Keiko deserved a rest after the traumatic events she'd revisited to inform them about what had become of the world he'd left behind. "All of his missiles were region locked; that way they could never be used against him. If anyone did attempt to try launching an attack using them, the missiles would become unless and I wouldn't even put it past him to have them self destruct as well."

"But the coding used to enforce something like that would have to be extremely immense and impossible to penetrate." Ianto stated.

"It was." Keiko beat her brother to replying to the Welshman's statement. "He only hired the best programmers around..."

 _Baby you light up my world like nobody else,_

 _The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,_

 _But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,_

 _You don't know oh oh; You don't know you're beautiful!…_

Seto's cell phone sounded. He gestured for them all to remain quiet, especially the smirking captain who found the pop song ringtone hilarious enough to continuously rib him over, even after several years of it having been originally set by his adoptive daughter. "Hi Honey, is everything okay?"

"Yes, there's no need to panic." Kisara assured him as she sensed the hint of apprehension in her husband's voice. "I was just wondering if we had plans for this weekend? More specifically, Friday afternoon and evening?"

"Nothing to my knowledge, though I'd have to check my dairy first." He lied, knowing full well that he already had prior engagements to attend. "Why do you ask?"

"Well … the Kirov Ballet will be in town for a one night only flash performance and ..."

"We'll be there."

"You really mean it? I know how much you hate these kind of things."

"I think I can make it through one torturous recital." Although Seto truthfully felt ballet was his own personal form of torture, he'd endure a few hours of the highly acclaimed dance group for his wife's benefit. He hadn't seen her smile since before the miscarriage several months back. Perhaps the once-in-a-lifetime performance in their home city would help lift her spirits? "You just worry about talking Naoko into watching the kids and I'll take care of the rest."

"Thank you, I'll get right on to it. I love you Darling."

"I love you too." He waited on the line for Kisara to hang up first.

"How is she?" Ianto queried about his female friend and her second pregnancy attempt to carry his and his husband's child for them.

"No need to worry, she's fine." The CEO assured the concerned man in the simplest terms possible as he cycled through his contacts list before raising his handset to his ear once more and waited for the call to be answered. "Juiz, I need you to do me a big favour, two favours actually. Firstly, clear and re-arrange my schedule for Friday afternoon and compensate any expenses our contractors may incur. Secondly, I _need_ two tickets for the Russian ballet going on this Friday and am willing to pay _whatever_ the costs to acquire them." A pause as he listened to the jesting complaint thrown back at him. "Yeah, I know; I'm terrible." The call was ended with him safe in the knowledge that his requests would be fulfilled to a T.

"Russian ballet eh?" Jack snickered and received a look that warned not to mock his friend any further or his infamous wrath was sure to be unleashed.

"You have _more_ children?" Keiko asked as she'd also overheard the conversation. "You left Kisara and Mokie behind to start _another_ family, over here?"

"No!" Seto's response was borderline aggressive at the suggestion. "I would _never_ leave my family."

"But you _did_ leave, remember?"

"How many times do I have to say it? I'm _not_ the exact same brother that you think I am."

She wore a skeptical look whilst still finding it hard to accept all the things she'd been told regarding her beloved brother. How he wasn't actually _hers,_ that he had a brother and they had been adopted to lay claims to the surname Kaiba due to separate _'timelines'_ or some other such nonsense that she humoured him with. Their father had always warned her that playing along with his farfetched fantasies would do him more harm than good, but the way he talked so assertively made them seem almost believable enough to be real. "Do you have proof, other then the fake ID you once showed me?"

Seto loosened the tie around his neck so that his hand was given more room to reach underneath his shirt's collar in order to tug at the strap of his locket. He removed it, clicked it open and handed it to her.

"What's this?" Keiko inquired as she glanced at the photograph presented before her. It showed four children smiling happily towards her as they had each stared down the camera lens at the time that the photograph had been taken.

"They're my kids." He explained. "The girl seating in the middle holding the baby is my adopted daughter, the other three are mine and Kisara's."

She looked closer at the picture and the white haired boy in particular. He stood on the seated girl's left that she now recognised as her nephew. Maybe there was some truth to this madness? "How recent is this?"

"It was taken just a few months back."

"That's impossible." She sneered and felt almost foolish for having nearly fallen for such an illusive lie. "Mokuba would be far older than this if it _was_ real."

"Not in this timeline he isn't." What could he say to make her believe him? Perhaps he'd have to accept that she never would? _Clearly cynical attitudes run in the family; our father's legacy lives on..._ An idea struck him as a result of his own thought. "Look at the girl with the dark hair."

Keiko did as instructed.

"I named her after you."

"You did?" She felt a warm, honoured feeling deep within. "Why?"

"So that I wouldn't forget … just like I promised."

A tearful smile wobbled on her lips. He'd kept his word and hadn't forgotten her like she feared he would. Even if the nonsense of different timelines was true, the fact that he'd cared enough to make sure that she remained with him in such a way proved touching.

"Look you two, I _really_ hate to be the one to break this up, but there's still things that need to be explained." Jack cut in on the tender moment between siblings. "Like for instance, how was the other Kaiba Corp able to create the hopper technology? You're the mastermind behind these things Seto, how did that despicable madman acquire the knowledge needed to make them?"

"Gozaburo always was one to steal other people's ideas and claim them as his own." Seto stated as he took back his locket and re-placed it around his neck. "The 'other me' that used to work for him must have invented, or at least theorised plans for them."

The way in which he had spoken proved too much for Keiko as she finally accepted the fact that her 'actual' brother had indeed died at the hands of the evil man. Harrowing images she'd seen of him gagged and squirming as his head was slowly hacked from his body came back to haunt her. _Seto's actually dead._ She looked at her brother's doppelgänger. "There's something else you should know. Another one of those devices had already been used … by Gozaburo."

"He's here too?!"

"I don't know." She shot back almost fearfully at Seto's exclamation. "Maybe, though it could also be pretty unlikely as he's looking for some kind of key, not you, you're dead to him now."

"A key? For what exactly?" He quizzed further.

"For his ultimate weapon that's he's going to use to blow the US clean from the map in one swoop."

"Now that's _actually_ not a bad idea." Ianto soon found himself under the scrutiny of four pairs of eyes for his dry humoured remark. "I'm joking of course. It's what I do."

"What does this key look like?" The captain asked whilst still eyeing his husband warily.

"Noah was the only one with that knowledge and he's dead now. I don't think even Gozaburo knows what he's looking for."

"I'm convinced he _does_ know." Seto practically growled in response to Keiko's allegation. "He's _not_ the kind of man to resort to using such technologies unless he's certain they'll generate the result he demands."

"No; Noah said he'd take all his secrets to the grave with him. He was immensely obstinate, there's _no way_ he would have told him what to search for."

"Oh believe me, once you find the right torture technique then even the strongest of wills are easily broken." Jack spoke up with plenty of experience, mostly of himself inflicting them from his darkened past.

The woman bit her tongue and pressed her lips as she shook her head. "Noah wouldn't reveal something like that. Not even with his dying breath."

"We have evidence of his dying breath to prove it too." Four acrimonious pairs of eyes fell on the redheaded Welshman for the tasteless tone used to voice his remark. "What? It's okay for _him_ to say tawdry things but not me?"

"Dry humour is an art Derwyn. One I've spent many a year mastering." Ianto pointed out and couldn't stop his mind wandering back to the precise moment when the tortured man had breathed and exhaled his last lungful of air. Had Noah broken? Eyes widened as he realised what it was that didn't reside back on the other timeline but did here. "I know what Gozaburo is looking for and you're not going to like it."

"Tell me!" Seto demanded impatiently.

The Welshman nervously wet his lips before he spoke, "Anathema."

 _8888888_

 **A/N: Ugh, I've edited this chapter soooo many times but something about it still irks me and I don't know what it is -_-**

 **Looks like Seto didn't change his ringtone for Kisara :P (also, Jack kept his word from 'A Red and Blue Eyed Paradox' and did give him a 1D album for his birthday...)**

 **Juiz - Yes that's an Eden of the East reference ^^;**

 **KG**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"I am _so_ sorry." David apologised as he and Anathema left the cafe at a fast pace. "It's all my fault. Stupid, stupid watch!"

"It's okay, don't blame yourself." She assured whilst watching him trying to get the timepiece working once more. The battery in it had died, so the alarm he'd set to alert them of when it was time to head back to their course hadn't sounded. Now they were almost ten minutes deferred from what they had planned. "We've still got a bit of time before lunch is over. If we hurry we can still make it."

Their pace quickened and soon became a jog in the hope of recouping some of the time that had been lost. Having barely gone just a few hundred metres a car pulled up to the curb a short distant in front of them.

"Look's like I could be in for the biggest reprimanding of my life." The boy muttered as he saw the vehicle and then explained, "It's my father."

The passenger side window lowered and the grey haired man with dark thick eyebrows and moustache leant across to converse with his child. "What you doing out here Son? Aren't you supposed to be participating in that Duel Monsters course today?"

"I am. Me and my friend here are just returning from our lunch break."

"Would you two like a ride back there?"

David turned to the girl beside him and wore a grin which told her that they'd be able to make it back to the campus on time after all, and if they didn't mention the fact that they were currently running late, he would escape the rebuking too. "Sure; thank you Father."

Anathema watched as the back door of the car was held open for her to enter. Her dad had warned her many times as a young child that she must never get into a vehicle belonging to someone whom she didn't know. But this was the father of the boy she'd befriended so that didn't count right? She'd be in no danger and the journey wouldn't take long. _Dad doesn't need to know about this._

Once both of them were seated and buckled in, the car began to move.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to this lovely young lady?"

"Sorry Father, this is Anathema; Anathema, this is my father."

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Willis." She beamed back feeling slightly embarrassed at having been referred to as a 'young lady' by someone whom she wasn't familiar with.

"My name's _not_ Willis." He told her. His friendly tone had vanished from his voice and now sounded like it contained a trace of hostility. "Would you care to guess again?"

Had she offended the man driving them? She certainly hadn't meant to. Not quite sure what else his surname could be as she'd assumed it was the same as her friend's, she turned to David with a pleading look for help.

"Did I forget to mention that my father is quite famous?" He smirked but offered no further help to identify his old man.

Her view turned back to take another glance of the man's face via the mirror hanging in front of the windscreen. It was no good, his appearance didn't ring a bell. "I'm sorry sir, forgive my ignorance, but I'm afraid that I don't know who you are."

"Oh you'll be afraid alright." The driver sneered and manoeuvred his vehicle in a completely different direction to the campus they were supposed to be returning too. "Don't you recognise your own grandfather?"

"Grandfather?" She muttered aloud her confusion. This had to be some kind of sick joke, her grandfather was dead. Although her dad had mentioned him on a couple of rare occasions,- and described the man in question as evil incarnate,- she hadn't actually known what he looked like. "That's not possible! You can't be him! He's dead!"

"Not from where we're from he's not." David jeered as he placed a noose over their victim to tightly secure her arms by her sides.

"LET ME GO!" Anathema screamed as she struggled and kicked the seat in front of her before then being gaged and bound with more rope as the boy worked fast to subdue her. She hadn't expected or even momentarily considered her dad's warnings of being kidnapped to ever come true, especially by a man claiming to be her deceased grandfather and a friend whose betrayal had cut like a knife; swift, precise and deep.

 _888888888888888888888888888888888_

Seto stormed down the corridor as he approached the lecture theatre where the class was being held. In his wake Jack and Keiko swiftly followed. Not wasting a single second since the Welshman's conclusion and unable to contact Anathema since her cell phone was switched off, the three of them had hopped back to Domino in search of the girl before it was too late. _For once I pray that Yan is wrong about something._

The doors were flung open and thundered as they hit the inside walls of the huge room. Everyone's attention,- including that of the two teenagers in mid duel and their teacher grading them,- was drawn to the dramatic arrival of the three unexpected visitors. Excited murmurs began to spread like wildfire amongst the students in relation to the appearance of one of the greatest duelists having gatecrashed their induction course.

" _What_ is the meaning of this?" Alexis demanded regardless of who it was standing before her.

"I'm here for my daughter." The CEO stated as his eyes scanned the room trying to locate her.

"She's _not_ here." The blonde shot back at him just as bluntly as she had been spoken too. "And I have to say that I'm greatly disappointed she chose to skip class along with a handful of others who have also decided that they are above my teachings."

"That doesn't sound like Anathema." Jack informed the fearless woman whilst his friend silently seethed and struggled to keep his emotions under control. _Stay calm Seto, don't take it out on this beautiful lady._

"When and where did you last see her?" His voice was now more civil after having a moment to compose himself. It wasn't as if she had been aware of what was happening and understood his situation.

"Around two hours ago when I discharged the class for lunch. Some of my students have informed me that they saw her leave campus with a boy she'd befriended."

"What boy?" His eyes narrowed attentively.

Alexis hesitated for a moment. She wasn't permitted to go giving out details about her pupils to just anyone but knew he'd only find another way to uncover the request if she didn't comply. Perhaps a name would be enough to suffice? "David Willis. Anathema was helping to teach him what she knows about Duel Monsters."

The name meant nothing to Seto but still he was grateful for her cooperation and expressed this via a bow of the head gesture. He at least now had something to work from, even though it was exceedingly minuscule. "I apologise for the intrusion. If my daughter reappears before we are able to find her ourselves, please have her contact me immediately."

"Of course."

The CEO turned and exited the lecture theatre with Keiko close on his heels. However, Jack still remained where he was as he continued to gape at the beautiful blonde. "I do believe we have the misfortune of not being introduced to each other." A grin was flashed from that Cheshire cat smile. And he extended his hand. "Captain Jack Harkness at your service ..."

"JACK!" His friend's voice boomed back down the corridor. "Don't make me come back there!"

"Gotta go." The captain excused himself with a sheepish smile as he withdrew his hand and backed out of the doorway. He hurried along the hall to catch up with the other two. "Sorry, you know how distracted I get with pretty faces." His words might as well have gone unspoken as the younger man was in mid conversation with the rest of his team via the concealed comms unit in his ear.

"... CCTV cameras from two hours ago. Joey, I want you to run a search on a boy by the name of David Willis."

" _I don't do the techy stuff, that's Becky and Ryou's area."_

"Wheeler please, just do your best." He'd meant to come across as the voice of authority but ended up sounding more of a plead as the concern for his daughter seeped through into his tone. "We need to find her."

" _Aye-aye boss!"_

" _Seto, before you go, I've gotten the first images from the campus' surveillance system. It shows Anathema leaving the grounds and heading east with the boy willingly; there's no sign of her being taken against her will."_

"Keep tracking them Becky, and let me know once you have their current location."

" _Will do."_

He remained silent as they exited the building and thought of their next course of action. They couldn't just stand around doing nothing so would head east in an attempt to get a head start on finding the missing girl.

"We'll find her." Keiko assured as she'd had plenty of experience regarding her brother's blank expressions and roaming thoughts. "They can't have gone far." She received a halfhearted smile as she trotted beside him.

"Ya know, maybe there isn't anything wrong here. Okay, so she skipped class; big whoop, most kids do that kind of thing at least once. " Jack was given an icy glare for having suggested such a thing. He'd been pretty skeptical from the start with not having any solid evidence to go on, usually it was the other who'd be the first to dismiss such notions. Meeting the disgruntled look he continued, "I think the thing that's eating you right now is the fact that she left with a _boy_. Anathema's almost thirteen. Face it Seto, she's not going to be playing with dollies and Duel Monsters cards all her life. She's going to develop her own interests and curiosities … "

"That's _my daughter_ you're talking about." He growled irritatedly and came to a standstill with the captain mimicking his stance. "This has _nothing_ to do with her maturing beyond childhood! Finding out about Gozaburo and her disappearance is _too much_ for it to be _just_ a coincidence. Something _is_ wrong here Jack, I can sense it."

"That's called parental instinct." A voice sounded from down a side street as a man sporting a bowtie casually swaggered forward towards them. "You'll find that it's hardly ever wrong. The statistic of it being so is 3.1415926..."

"You idiot, that's not a statistic, that's the numerical value of pi!"

"Aha, you've still got your head about you even though you're overwrought. That's great, truly marvellous in fact ..."

"What do you want?" Seto drawled tiredly at the giddy newcomer now wringing his hands.

"You really ought to work on your greetings. Still, I guess it's better than being manhandled in a bush."

"You know this guy?" Jack asked his friend cynically.

"Yes, as do you."

 _I do?_ The captain squinted as he took a closer look and desperately tried to recall the young man before him. It was no good, he couldn't place the face. _Unless…?_ "Doctor? Is that you?"

"It's me." He beamed.

"You regenerated!" Jack laughed. He lunged at the timelord and hugged him tightly leaving the other barely able to breathe. As he enjoyed the reunion, a thought dawned on him. _You regenerated?_ Loosening his hold he stepped back and stared harshly at the CEO. "He regenerated, you knew, and didn't tell me?!"

"Don't blame me because your so-called _friend_ didn't inform you himself!"

Sensing the tension that was building, the Doctor aimed to move things along and held his hand out towards the young woman he'd not seen before. "Hello there, I'm the Doctor. Don't say _'Doctor_ Who'; that's getting old now, even older than me almost. I'm just _'the Doctor'_."

"I'm Keiko." She engaged in his enthusiastic handshake.

"Ah, how lovely! The last time I saw you, you were ..." He made several unsure and reconsidering hand gestures before he abandoned trying to attempt a guess at how big she had been. "Well actually you were still in your mother's belly."

 _Wrong Keiko._ Seto kept the mix up that had been made to himself. He witnessed a confused look on his sister's face as she tried to figure out what the man,- who was surely the same age as herself?,- had meant.

"So, what kind of mess are we dealing with now?"

"We?" The CEO snorted. "I don't need you to sort out my troubles Doctor."

"Clearly you do." He shot back. "That's got to be why the TARDIS brought me here. I'm beginning to think that she's got a fixation over you too; first my wife and now my time machine..."

"Excuse me, did you say wife?!" The captain jumped in with his exclamation.

Seto rolled his eyes. "I'll leave you both to chat amongst yourselves." He moved away from the two men and spoke to his team via the comms once more. "How's that search going Joey?"

" _I'm still Googling the name you gave me."_

"You Googled?" His head sank into the palm of his hand. They had superior programmes and technology at their disposal and the mutt had chosen such a primitive way to do things? _At least he's trying._ He let out a sigh. "Okay, give me what you've got."

" _Nothing useful I'm afraid. Only a couple of thousand social media accounts. Various wiki articles on voice actors, musicians, writers, etc. Some guy wanting to sell me health insurance. A Transformers blog ..."_

" _Seto,_ _I've news I think you should hear!"_ Becky's voice sounded. She continued with her findings without waiting for confirmation to do so. _"I've uncovered footage of Anathema and the boy getting into a car, and you'll never guess who's driving it."_

"Please tell me it's not Gozaburo."

" _I'm sorry Seto."_

His insides flipped and eyes widened before he demanded, "Where are they now?"

" _I'm tracking the car as we speak. I'll text you the coordinates as soon as I get their location."_

The comm link connection was canceled and in a blind fit of rage and frustration, Seto lashed out to punch the wall of the building beside him. _I'll kill him! I'll fucking kill him for taking her!_

"Is it bad news?" Keiko asked as she and the two men approached him.

"He's got Anathema." It was all Seto could muster as he began to blame himself for his daughter's kidnapping. _I was supposed to protect her and I failed._

"I'm sorry for having doubted you." Jack apologised as he saw the despair creeping on his friend's face.

"See, what did I tell you about parental instinct? Hardly ever wrong." The Doctor chimed. He received the resentful glare he'd come to expect from the CEO and dropped all further intentions of making light of the situation. "Going by what I overheard earlier, I take it that _'he'_ is Gozaburo, but would you kindly explain to me as to what he is doing here and now?"

Seto's phone alerted him to the text message from Rebecca and he wasted no time in viewing it. "We act now, I'll answer all questions later." He told the timelord before holding up the screen for Jack to see. "You got that?"

"Yep." The captain hurriedly entered the coordinate details into his vortex manipulator.

"You take the Doc, I'll take Keiko." The details were also entered into the hopper. _Hold on Kiddo, I'm coming for you._


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you to FutureStar27 for reviewing** **:)**

 **.**

 **Chapter Seven**

In a secluded corner of Domino's docks the man and boy waited in silence with their tied up captive forced to stand beside them. Whilst the elder grasped the girl, a device was held in the youngster's hands that indicated the rift was due to rupture shortly. Their return to the timeline from which they had come was looming close and the pair would then continue forth to carry out the rest of the plan that would achieve them world domination.

"Any moment now and the portal will open." David confirmed as the technical piece of equipment detected yet more ripples and waves in the rift spike energy surrounding them.

Anathema's heart fearfully raced inside her chest. Her mind still tried to make sense of what was happening and understand why this man was claiming to be her grandfather. It couldn't be true; could it? Her dad wouldn't lie to her; would he? And who was the boy that had seemed so friendly yet abused the trust she'd foolishly placed in him?

White light flashed before their eyes and four figures appeared from out of nowhere. The tallest came dashing towards them shouting at the top of his voice, "LET HER GO GOZABURO!"

"McKenzie." He sneered in an amused manner. "I wasn't expecting you to _actually_ cross my path during my time here. It looks like there was _far_ much more to your insane sister's ramblings than even I gave her credit for."

"I'm not the man that you think I am." Seto snarled as he drew out his Beretta and aimed it directly at the old man holding his daughter hostage. If Anathema hadn't been held so close to his target then he would have fired without warning, but as it was, he didn't want to risk shooting her by accident as she struggled in his grasp. "I'm telling you for the final time. Let, Her, Go! Otherwise, I'll shoot you dead where you stand."

Gozaburo stared back at the man with the gun fixed on him. He knew a bluff when he saw and heard one; the other didn't have what it took to pull the trigger. His hostage was pulled even closer.

"Do as he says, or your boy will meet the same fate." The captain's gun was also raised as he joined his friend's side. He was well aware that his chosen action of targeting a child would have received a disapproving look from the younger man, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Mokuba?" Keiko gasped as her eyes caught sight of the white haired boy who was still tampering with the device that he held. His head lifted at hearing the sound of his true name which caused her to give a joyous laugh in response. "Oh Mokie, you're alive!"

 _He's her nephew?_ Seto's eyes momentarily diverted. The boy was a lot older now than the toddler he had once met. Although he had named his own son partially based on what he had known about the other, that was as far as his association went. _Didn't she say that bastard had killed the rest of her family? Why would he allow for this boy to survive? Was it a well thought out tactic for kidnapping Anathema like this?_

"Can't we settle this without the need for violence?" The Doctor asked as he also joined them. He glanced from his two friends with their firearms drawn and across to the man with the gagged and bound girl. "How about a ceasefire? Negotiations? Each of you could draw up some kind of contract if that's more in your comfort zone ..."

"I notice a severe _lack_ of shooting going on." Gozaburo taunted as he ignored and spoke over the timelord's ramblings.

A dangerous smirk crept on the CEO's face. "I can soon rectify that."

"DON'T YOU DARE! I thought you were batter than him, Seto?!"

"He is, though it won't cause me any inconvenience." Jack scoffed at the Doctor's outrage only to draw the timelord's horrified attention to himself as his finger tightened on the trigger of his Webley.

"If _EITHER_ of you attempt to shoot then I _WILL_ snap this girl's neck and she'll be _DEAD_ before she even hits the ground!"

Anathema gave out a muffled cry as she felt her hair tugged violently. The force of the yank had been so great that it caused her deck to fall from her jacket pocket as she staggered backwards. Her cascading cards spread across the ground at her feet in a shower of pinks, greens and browns.

Seto's face contorted for a brief second as he watched the tears form in his daughter's eyes and struggled to hold back the fear and anger racing through his veins. He was currently powerless to act without risking serious further harm towards her, and knowing how little his stepfather bluffed, it was a gamble he knew that he wouldn't be making. Slowly he drew back his gun and placed it in the concealed sling underneath his suit jacket as he spoke to his friend. "Lower your weapon Jack."

"Call his bluff Seto. He won't get a chance to hurt Anathema."

"I said; _'Lower your weapon'_."

"We _CAN_ do this!"

"NEED I reminder you _'captain'_ , that you are in _MY_ city now?" The narrowed icy glare intensified in the hope of portraying enough intimidation to for the older man to back down. He was fed up of being told what to do on his own turf. "I _order_ you Harkness; _lower_ your weapon."

The change in his friend's tone was enough for Jack to reluctantly holster his Webley. _We could have taken him together. When will you realise that you no longer have to stand on your own? Especially against 'him'._ His eye's threw daggers at Gozaburo. Although he knew this wasn't quite the same man that had caused Seto so much suffering, he would suffice in order for him to be given the chance to seek revenge and torture the other in the most gruesome ways possible.

"The portal's opening!" Mokuba exclaimed the as the space in front of him tore and a gaping void appeared before them. He wasted no time in leaping into it and was closely followed by his accomplice and their captive.

 _Anathema!_ Seto tried to bolt forward into the void after them but was held back by the captain's hands firmly secured around his arm.

"Whoa, hold up!. If you go through that thing, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to make your way back here again."

"Not unless you have and anchor similar to theirs." The Doctor pointed out in relation to the device that the boy had been holding.

"Or a TARDIS." Jack retorted as he released the hold on his friend who wasn't putting up the struggle he'd expected of him.

The timelord shook his head. "Not enough time to fetch her before the portal closes."

"But it's a _TARDIS!_ "

"It's more complicated than that Jack. Seto's timeline already looks like a cheesestring. I don't want to make matters worse by fraying it even more..."

The portal shrank several inches as it began to close. Quick as a flash, the Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and locked on to the void's temporal frequency in an attempt to keep the connection open.

"Well we better do something soon, or Anathema is going to be lost forever!" The captain stated the obvious to his timelord friend. "If only you hadn't disabled the features on my vortex manipulator..."

"I'm on it!" Keiko shouted as she ran passed them and leapt into the portal. Now that she'd found him, she wasn't about to let her target get away so easily, nor was she going to risk losing her nephew again.

"No, Keiko wait!" The Doctor's plea was too late, she was gone.

Since the hold had been released on him, Seto had wandered over to where the small mound of his daughter's cards had been left behind. Would he ever see her again or was her discarded deck all he now had to remember her by? The lone blue monster card that served as her trump stared face up at him from the jumble that had once represented the girl's heart and soul. Reaching down, he carefully picked it up and then searched for the ritual spell card needed in order to summon Shinato to the playing field. "Jack, I have a plan!"

"Great, let's hear it." The captain eagerly turned to face Seto as he came striding over and met him half way.

"I'm going after Anathema ..."

"That's crazy...!"

"LET me finish." He wasn't thrilled at being interrupted and needed his friend to carefully listen to what he had to say. "I have to protect her from Gozaburo, and right now the only way I can do that is to be there and face him myself. But it's okay; I have an anchor." Seto placed his deck and the two cards he'd taken from Anathema's into the other's hands. "Go back to base and ask Becky for the hopper-prototype that we created for the abandoned rift exploration. It's still tuned to the rift's energy so once you receive a message from me on your psychic paper, engage in a duel using that hopper and be sure to summon Shinato before my Blue Eyes."

"What?" Jack looked almost terrified at what he'd been asked to do. "B-but … I can't …"

" _Yes_ , you can."

The portal began to quiver as it attempted to shrink again and caused the Doctor to bellow, "I'm having a little trouble keeping this thing open over here!"

"But what about you?" The captain protested weakly to his young friend as he searched for an excuse to not have to play the card game he understood so little of. "You'll need back up."

"I'll take the Doc."

"Wait! What?" The timelord was confused at hearing the CEO mention him in his plan.

"I have faith in you Jack." Seto assured one last time as he wrapped his friend's fingers around his deck. "I trust my heart in these cards, just as much as I do in you."

There was a lump forming at the back of the captain's throat. If the younger man didn't stop talking so sentimentally sometime soon, then he would undoubtedly cry.

"You'll bring us home, I know you will."

Not saying another word, Seto then grabbed hold of the Doctor and dragged him into the void as the portal closed behind them.

Biting his lip as he fought back the build up of tears in his eyes, Jack looked down at the cards he'd been entrusted with. Fanning them out in his hands, he saw the ritual monster and three dragons staring up at him. He knew what needed to be done. Now all he had to do was learn how to play Duel Monsters itself.

 _8888888_

 **A/N: I am so sorry for the huge delay in updating ^^;**

 **Bit of a short chapter this one, but I felt you guys deserved something to read sooner rather than later.**

 **If you enjoyed and/or would like to read more, PLEASE review; it helps to keep me motivated ;)**

 **Hopefully I'll get back into some kind of routine again soon,**

 **KG**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you FutureStar27 for the review**

 **:)**

 **Chapter Eight**

"I thought you said that you didn't need my help?" The Doctor groaned as the two men landed in an undignified heap on the other side of the portal.

"I don't." Seto responded pushing the timelord from on top of him.

"Then way did you drag me along?"

"To stop Jack from worrying about me."

Now stood on his feet, the Doctor offered his hand down to the CEO still slouched on the floor. "Are you sure that's your reason?"

A quizzical look was given from those easily irritated blue eyes as the hand in front of him was accepted and Seto pulled to his feet. _Maybe if I humoured the quack it would shut him up for the rest of our time together? Who am I trying to kid, it would just encourage him to talk more about his invalid opinion._ He chose to remain silent and looked around the room they were in. There was no sign of Gozaburo, Anathema, Keiko or the boy.

"I take it we're in your company's building?" The timelord concluded from the technological set up around them.

"Except in this timeline it's not _my_ company." Seto responded and then strode swiftly towards the doorway. He looked out into the hall. Just like he'd been expecting from his sister's retelling, the floor was littered with the bodies of the fallen combatants.

The Doctor joined him. His gaze swept the corridors too. "Nothing good ever comes from such conflict. Horrific death and suffering are the only outcomes..."

"Oh, will you stop being so dramatic!" Seto drawled with a roll of his eyes before stepping out of the room. He'd noticed some partial blooded footprints that he hoped would lead him to the evil bastard trying to destroy his life from beyond the grave,- timeline, dimension,- whatever. _I'm coming for you Gozaburo; if you've hurt my little girl, I will make sure your death is excruciatingly painful AND slow._

"Aren't you even the slightest bit appalled by what you see?" The timelord trotted behind as he tried to keep up with the other man's long swift strides.

"Of course I am!"

"You sure don't act like it."

"Just a short while ago you were praising me for being able to keep calm and focused, and now you're criticizing?... Make up your god damn mind."

"It's not criticism, it's _called_ interrogation." The Doctor retorted as he tried to keep himself from bumping into the CEO who had suddenly halted in front of him.

"You're interrogating me?!" He scoffed whilst his eyes followed the bloodied footprints to where they stopped at the elevator doors. "Why?"

"Just wanting to make sure that you haven't reverted back down some dark path again. Traumatic instances have a way of unraveling the soul; as you've experienced..."

"I'm not in the mood for you psychoanalysis bullshit today." Seto stated dryly as he punched at the buttons to call the elevator to them. He then stared at the timelord. "I just want to get my daughter and leave. Is that too much to ask?"

"No, of course not." The Doctor replied nervously under the frosty glare he received. "Are you certain that your anchors are secure enough to get home?"

Seto gave a confident nod. "Mine and Anathema's hearts are bonded to our cards. All Jack has to do is summon our signature monsters and we'll return back to our timeline."

"...? But I'm stuck here now aren't I?" The timelord spoke his accusation aloud. "You can't stand me, so brought me along with you,- _purely_ for vindictive reasons,- knowing that I'd _never_ be able to return."

"Do you honestly think I'm that petty?"

"Well, aren't you?"

There was a smirk and a humouring laugh held back as the CEO disbelievingly shook his head whilst glancing down at his feet. "Once upon a time maybe." His head rose slightly, lips still curved and peered at the man accompanying him. "For your information _Doctor_ , I have _three_ Blue-Eyes White Dragons. That's one anchor for _me_ , one for _you_ and the third one for Keiko... I wouldn't leave those I care about behind."

There was a silence at the newfound understanding between the two of them. Both had gradually learnt to accept the other's irritating habits and flaws, as well as show concern and admiration in their own ways.

The elevator arrived with a soft thud and pinged as the doors slid open.

"Let's go take down that crazed stepfather of yours." The Doctor said as they both entered into the metal box that had smeared orangey-red footprints on its flooring.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Seto stated. He speedily pressed a combination of buttons on the control panel as the doors closed. Now with the system overrode, it would take them to the last floor that the elevator had previously stopped at. _Prepare to meet your end Gozaburo. You're going down, once and for all._

 _888888888888888888888888888888888_

Jack arrived at the underground base in a flash of light from his vortex manipulator. As quickly as he could, he raced towards where Rebecca and Joey were seated behind their work terminals. "Becky, Seto asked me to ask you for the hopper prototype; the one that you two had tuned into the rift for the exploration programme."

"Why? What for?" She questioned. The last thing that she was aware of was her brother-in-law chasing down the man who looked like his deceased stepfather after kidnapping her niece. "What's going on?"

"It's a long story that involves alternate timelines, but the short version is that Seto went through the rift. I need to duel using that particular duel disk in order to bring him and Anathema back to us. "

"You, duel?" Joey snickered at the hilarious thought of seeing the captain play the game that easily confused him. "Against who?"

Jack shrugged. "One of you two I guess."

"In that case it's going to have to be Joey." Rebecca said as she got to her feet, ready to go and retrieve the requested device.

"Hey!" The blond exclaimed as his colleague's instruction. "Why me?"

"Umm, hello!? Duel Monsters champion over here. Given the situation, it wouldn't be fair of me to go against an amateur like Jack … " She glanced at the captain. "No offence."

"None taken." He assured her as she walked off in the direction of the storerooms. Once she was out of sight, he turned back to the younger man. "Don't worry about duelling me. I'll hop back over to Cardiff and get Ianto to do so instead..."

"That _won't_ be necessary." Joey interrupted. He'd be damned if he let that Welsh jerk step up in his place to save the day. "Just give me a mo to get my duel disk and deck, then we're all set to go."

Jack shook his head. "We don't duel until I receive the word from Seto." He pulled out his psychic paper and stared at it, waiting for his friend's message to appear.

 _888888888888888888888888888888888_

Their strides quickened once they exited the elevator and followed the trail of smudged footprints that were becoming fainter by the step. The Doctor soon found himself fall further behind as the CEO's pace increased even more when they heard a shrill cry.

Bursting into the control room where the scream had come from, Seto saw Gozaburo holding his sister by the throat; her legs frantically flailed and lips were turning blue from the grasp slowly choking her life away. " _GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!_ " He charged at the old man, knocking him backwards and freeing the struggling captive.

Keiko gasped and spluttered for air as she lay where she'd been dropped. Exhausted and unable to summon enough energy to move, she just watched the two men become locked in combat. Although her brother was more youthful and had the advantage of agility and strength because of it, the older man didn't seem to be showing any signs of being defeated sometime soon as he received each blow with a grin before dealing out his own.

"Are you okay?" The Doctor asked as he arrived by the young woman's side and helped her to sit upright. He received a shaken nod in response and then asked his next question. "Where are the kids?"

"Over there." Shakily she pointed to where her nephew was trying to undo the ropes bound around the girl who had been snatched.

Having seen that Keiko was going to be okay, the timelord began to make his way over to check on the two children. _From the looks of things the boy's trying to redeem himself by freeing her. Clearly he was forced into follow that tyrant's orders but knows now that we're here to help free him too. Once Seto's overthrown his stepfather …_ His thoughts trailed off when he caught sight of the man who wasn't faring well in the fight and was suddenly forced to the ground. "Seto!"

The CEO struggled and writhed as he tried to stop the strap of his locket pulled tightly around his neck. His fingers managed to slip underneath in an attempt to loosen the noose that had been made, but it was no use as the force pulling at him was too strong. _I WILL NOT go down like this!..._

"Release him!" The Doctor ordered as he pointed his sonic screwdriver directly at Gozaburo. Hopefully the other's lack of knowledge about what it was that he was actually holding would work in his favour. "Release Seto now, or I'll shoot."

"Ha! You don't have the guts."

"Don't I?" The timelord hoped that his bluff would hold up. His friend's life depended on it.

"Doc... t-tor!" Seto gasped between chokes as he struggled to breathe. _Don't just stand there!...Help me!_

"It's time you died McKenzie..."Gozaburo chortled as the timelord remained helpless to the pleading gesture that had been made by his captive's outstretched arm. Nothing more could be done to stop him and the strangulation taking place on the man he'd killed once already. "...and this time remain dead; by my own hand."

 _Forgive me Seto..._ The Doctor could see no way out for his friend; yet another life cut short by his intervention. Though definitely nowhere near as short as the first time they'd met. He turned away, head hung low and angry at himself for not being able to do more but knowing from previous experience that there'd be no bargaining with the power hungry crazed man. _If only I wasn't so intent on not using violence. Maybe I have it wrong and sometimes it IS justified, if only to save those we care for..._

Suddenly the sonic screwdriver began to frantically flash. "Oh would you look at that!" An explosion of hope lit up the timelord's eyes at what his device was displaying before him. It had been one of those purely accidental things to occur as it had scanned Gozaburo when pointed at him a short while ago and the results were now in. "That _is_ clever. Though I guess I should have expected something like that, given what I know about you and all."

A quick look back at the two struggling men saw Seto's eyes begin to rolled back in his head. His outstretched arm had dropped with his other still trying to loosen the noose around his neck which was also drooping.

"I said, _RELEASE HIM!_ " The Doctor angrily pointed his sonic screwdriver back at Gozaburo who then instantly fell silent and let go of his captive. "Seto!" He rushed to his side and helped ease the man up a little as he coughed and spluttered for air whilst pulling at his locket's strap.

"A ...ro. ..b-bot?" Seto gasped as his view fixed on the motionless figure looming over them, the sonic screwdriver having done its job and ceased all power within the mechanical form. "He was a god damn robot this whole time?!"

"It would appear so." The timelord mumbled as he took an inquisitive step closer to the lifeless structure. His hand raised and came to rest on the face of the old man. There was a hiss as the head opened to release a fine mist of illuminated particles that then dissipated into the air. "Looks like he found a way to preserve his soul once his body had failed."

 _That man never had a soul to begin with._ Seto's mind scoffed as he stared at the realistic looking android that had fooled them all. He got to his feet and brushed himself down. _Good riddance he's gone once and for all..._

" _Daddy!_ " Anathema cried as she ran towards him and wrapped her arms around his torso. "Oh Dad, I'm so sorry I didn't listen... I... I..." She dissolved into tears as she buried her face in his chest.

"It's okay Kiddo." He reassured her as he struggled a little to free his arm and then run his hand through her hair. "You're safe now, that's all that matters." His eyes narrowed as they diverted over to where the white haired boy stood cowering. _Under forced instructions or not, he'll pay dearly if I discover he's hurt her!_

"P-p-please don't hurt me." Mokuba stuttered as the three adults all looked his way. He could see that one of them was furious, another sympathetic and the third undecided as to what to think. Desperately he tried to explain his situation. "I _didn't_ touch her! I only did what _HE_ ordered me to do in regards to her abduction. He said I'd end up like my parents if I didn't comply…"

Still the three faces remained unchanged causing the boy to become more jittery and fearful of them. His eyes scrunched and fell into his hands as he screamed, " _HE SHOWED ME THEIR HEADS!_ Told me how he'd severed them as my parents begged for mercy that he refused to give. I didn't want to end up like that… Oh god, _please_ don't hurt me." He finally broke down into a flood of tears.

" _No one_ is going to hurt you." The Doctor assured the broken boy as Keiko rushed forward to comfort her crying nephew by holding him tightly as he continued to sob.

"He w-will." Mokuba pointed at Seto,- the imposter,- who wore his father's face. "That man may look like my father, but he's nothing more than a monster. Look at the way his eyes burn with the darkness of contempt and hatred for me."

 _What?!_ The timelord did a double take on the CEO beside him. Such allegation from the boy was a serious one to make, yet it wasn't being denied by the furious looking man now glaring back at him. _Though now that he's mentioned it, I CAN see a hint of darkness in those eyes... just like I feared a short while ago._

 _Quit looking at me like that._ Seto's mind growled back at the Doctor's uncertain stare. _I've got my emotions under control, this kid is spouting nothing but nonsense. Nonsense that you seem only too willing to fall for!..._

"Dad?" Anathema tugged gently at his shirt as she aimed to get his attention. "Don't blame David; I mean Mokuba. It was all Gozaburo's doing." She then raised her head to look up at him as she asked, "Is it true that he was my grandfather?"

"It's a little complicated." He steered his daughter away from the robotic corpse, in the opposite direction of Keiko and Mokuba. "Technically, _yes_ he is, though this version of him _isn't_. _Your_ grandfather, he died a long time ago, and you'll _never_ have to fear him."

Slowly, the girl nodded her understanding. It was reassuring to know, especially since what she'd heard and experienced of the old man wasn't the least bit pleasant. She reached for her locket to grip at it for additional comfort, only to remember that it had been seized. "He took my locket!"

"Stay here, whilst I retrieve it." Seto instructed, aware of the sentiment her true father's keepsake gave to his daughter. It was no different from the way he'd found strength from his own during his teens whenever he thought of his brother. Had anyone dared to take his locket away from him, then he would have fought just as mercilessly to get it back as he had done for Mokuba himself.

The Doctor saw the CEO leave the girl and double back towards the lifeless robotic form. He too approached. "How's your hold on that darkness?"

"There _is NO_ darkness." An irritated growl was returned as Seto crouched down and the rummaging of the android's suit pockets commenced. "There _hasn't been_ for a long time now."

"You're sure of that?"

"Positive!" The last pocket was checked yet there was no sign of his daughter's locket. _Damn it!_ He pushed down on his knees to return to full height and questioned the timelord. "Why are you taking what that boy said so close to heart?" It was easier for him to refer to the white haired youth as such instead of by name which would most likely cause him unwanted attachment to the alternate version of his son.

"He's just a child; an _extremely frightened_ and _traumatised_ child. All to often children like that have their voice and opinions overlooked."

"Oh yeah?" Seto scoffed. "Well _sometimes_ children over dramatise and exaggerate things too." As a father of four children there had been plenty of occasions when petty sibling bickering had been relayed to him and made out to be a bigger deal than it actually was.

The Doctor seemed appalled by such a comment. "Surely you haven't _forgotten_ what it's like to be in his shoes? To be absolutely terrified-…"

"You mean like when _that MONSTER_ re-entered my life?!" He spat viciously as he pointed at the robotic corpse of his stepfather. A calming breath was taken and he explained, "That man is to me, what Daleks are to you. Don't you _dare_ question my stability just because the masking of my weakness _happened_ to freak the boy."

With a stunned expression, the Doctor watched Seto walk away to rejoin Anathema. He hadn't even considered the possibility of him still being fearful of his past nor the honest revealing of the chink in his armour. _Perhaps I owe you more credit and respect than I already give?_ Though it was now obvious that he was unable to truly let go of his past completely, the timelord saw the change in attitude from the once self-righteous teen to the altruistic man. _You've come a long way, even I'm envious of just how much._

"Sorry Kiddo, your locket wasn't there. He must have lost it in the rift…" That reminded him to check his own pocket for the psychic paper. Phew, it's still there! He took it out and wrote _'Let's duel!'_ as his signal for the captain to start playing and pull them back. The extremely sad look on his daughter's face was then noticed. "Hey now, don't look so glum. I know it won't be quite the same, but I can replace the locket and print you another photo of your father to put in it once we get home, okay?"

Anathema nodded. "But how _do_ we get back home?"

"That plan's in motion, it won't be long now." Seto looked around the rest of the room that they'd soon be leaving behind them. His eyes landed on Keiko and Mokuba still tightly embracing each other and smiled, glad that the two of them had been re-united. They'd been through enough heartache and needed to console each other. _Probably best to just leave them to it..._ "Doctor!" He called out to the timelord who was now examining the robotic remains for himself. "Take care of them all whilst I'm gone, I'll be back shortly."

"Whoa there!" The Doctor jumped up with the aim of stopping the CEO before he had chance to leave the room. " _Where_ are you running off to?"

"I'm going to wipe the super computer." He stated without scorn or irritation that was normally feel for the other. "We can't leave all those plans for various methods of mass destruction behind now can we?"

"I like your thinking." A grin shone on the timelord's face and was,- surprisingly,- mirrored back to him. "Hop to it then! We'll await your return."

Seto continued on his way, passing by his sister still hugging her nephew who was grasping tightly at Anathema's locket in the concealment of his jacket pocket.


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you FutureStar27 for the review**

 **:)**

 **Chapter Nine**

The words 'Let's duel!' slowly appeared on Jack's psychic paper as Seto's message finally made its way through the rift and back to him. "Okay, this is it!" He breathed deep as he stood opposite Joey; both of them were kitted out with duel disks and ready to go. Nerves twisted so much in the captain's stomach that he desperately turned to the blonde beside him. "Are you _sure_ that you don't want to take over from me?"

Rebecca shook her head. "If Seto's entrusted his heart and faith to you then it _may not_ work if I duel in your place. But don't worry, I'll be here to help and give guidance should you need it."

"Oh believe me, I'm gonna need it." Jack gave a nervous laugh that almost ended up as a cry. "He greatly under-estimates just how bad I am at this..."

"I'll start since I won the coin toss." Joey declared and their starting hands of five cards were then drawn. He looked down at his cards; 'Graceful Dice', 'Rush Recklessly', 'Reinforcements', 'Insect Queen', and 'The Reliable Guidardian'… _Aw man, what a crap hand! Looks like I used all my luck already!_

He drew his first card. _Okay, maybe not!_ The newly acquired spell card was played straight away. "I activate 'Card Destruction' which makes us both discard our entire hand and draw a new one-…"

" _Joey!_ " Rebecca shouted disapprovingly as the spell took effect as soon as the blond's first card entered the graveyard.

"What?" He seemed oblivious to what he had just done wrong to have caused such a reaction from her.

"This duel is _meant_ as a way to _bring back_ our friends… So _which_ of Seto's monsters _do you think_ are most likely to contain his heart and spirit to be _able_ to do so?"

A glance at his opponent's graveyard saw that he'd just forced the other to discard 'De-fusion', 'Spirit Ryu', 'Premature Burial', 'Shadow Spell', and 'Blue Eyes White Dragon'. "Oops, sorry; my bad. I guess I was so focused on what I held that I completely forgot about what Jack may have."

"Does that mean we've blown this already?" The captain asked anxiously, knowing that one of his friend's most treasured dragons in the graveyard so early on wasn't a good sign.

"Not necessarily." Rebecca assured. "Seto's bound to have something that can revive the Blue Eyes that you were just forced to discard."

"I hope you're right." Jack drew a new hand of cards and this time held, 'Negate Attack', 'Shinato King of a Higher Plane', 'Jar of Greed', 'Kaiser Sea Horse' and 'Giant Germ.' _Hey, there's Anathema's card! Maybe this isn't so bad after all._

Joey grinned. His new hand, was also a lot better than his first. "I summon 'Baby Dragon' in defence mode and end my turn."

The little orange coloured dragon appeared on the field. It crouched down with its forearms crossed shielding its chest and lowered head.

"Okay Jack, it's your turn." Rebecca instructed and then added, "Don't forget to draw a card before you play one.", just as his hand was about to reach for one of the cards that he held.

"Thanks, I almost slipped up there." The captain drew a card,- 'The Dragon Dwelling in the Cave',- and added it to his hand. "So now it's my chance to summon a monster?" He double checked as his fingers hovered over the blue card Seto had instructed him to summon before the three dragons.

"Uh-huh, but not _that one_."

"Huh? Why not?"

"For starters, you can only play a monster whose star rating is four or below." She began to explain. "Anything higher requires a monster or two already on the field to use as a tribute to summon it. And secondly, Shinato is a 'Ritual Monster' so you need the correct spell card _as well as_ a tribute equal to its star rating to be able to summon it."

"…?" Jack gave a bemused blink before grinning sheepishly. "You wanna run that by me again."

"Ugh!" A groan left Joey's lips and his head fell into his hand. "This is going to be a painfully long duel."

 _8888888888888888888888888888888888_

On his journey to the room where the main computer systems were located, Seto past by a dozen more bodies along the way. Including Roland's.

Due to the unfortunate way that his most loyal employee and friend had died in his timeline during the Dalek invasion, there had been no body of the man left to recover and mourn over. Surreal and morbid as it was, he took advantage of the opportunity to say the goodbye he had never been given the chance to actually say, both to 'his' Roland and the one of this world. Each of their loyalties never to be forgotten.

As a mark of respect he'd also left behind his suit's jacket to cover the lifeless face of the courageous man whom had given his life protecting others from harm. Roland's sacrifice had ensured that Keiko succeeded with her task,- and although it had taken a slight diversion,- Gozaburo had finally been overthrown and toppled from power. This world was now rid of the evil bastard's dictatorship, and Seto would see to it that all his plans were too.

Fingers swiftly yet gracefully danced across keyboards as the CEO sought,- and after minimal effort,- gained access to the encrypted networks of this war based Kaiba Corporation. _I AM disappointed in you old man. I thought you only hired the best? Seems like they know fuck all about password protection._

One by one he deleted each and every plan for the weapons and schemes that had been used to gain and maintain power. A lot of them were recognisable,- such as the Osterhagen Plan, and a bunch of others that he'd relied to UNIT during his youth,- as well as ones that weren't. Either way, they were wiped from the system, though one programme was giving him a particular hard time erasing; probably due to higher encryption levels which he'd return to focus on once everything else had gone.

 _You plagiaristic piece of shit._ His mind growled as he stumbled across his own Solid Vision and Hopper creations that the other him of this timeline must have created for or had stolen by Gozaburo. _I bet you didn't even know the basics of half the things you laid claim to._

The plans for the android unit that housed the remnants of the dictator's being were also discovered, along with the cryogenic transfer system that had been used for Noah's body… _That doesn't make sense? Noah didn't die as a child here, nor did the old man give a damn about him enough to warrant such technology in the first place. Why would he have had this created? Unless it's related to his transferring into the robotic shell?_ Another string of gracefully key combinations was executed. _Hmm, it doesn't seem so. That was merely for organic transferring-…_

A countdown window suddenly popped open onscreen.

"Fuck!" Seto hissed aloud at having foolishly triggered something. Further investigation showed that it hadn't anything to do with him after all and traced the countdown's activation back to that one programme which would take him some extra time to crack. Time that he didn't have before the countdown reached zero and would launch the nuclear assault capable of blowing an entire continent off the face of the Earth. _That's the weapon Keiko warned about, the one that Gozaburo needed a key to activate. Why is it active now? Did he find the key? Were we too late to stop him? But most importantly, WHEN did he get the chance to…?_

 _Oh no!_ All the pieces were now clicking together as he realised what was going on. One last attempt was made,- and failed,- to override the command that had started the countdown. _If I know my stepbrother as well as I think I do then there's still one thing that can stop the activation… I just hope I'm not too late._

Seto left the room at a fast pace with less than five minutes before zero was due to be reached.


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you FutureStar27 for leaving a review**

 **:)**

 **Chapter Ten**

Since her dad had left the room Anathema watched the two adults examine what she now knew to be some kind of robot; android being the correct term if she remembered rightly. Was it really true that it had contained the soul of a dead man? How was that even possible? It seemed highly unlikely… but then again, after everything else that had happened to her today anything was conceivable.

Looking across the room she saw the boy whom she'd also learnt was apparently some alternate version of her eldest younger brother. How that worked out though she wasn't quite sure. This boy was around her age,- a good four to five years older than her Mokuba,- so how could that be possible if he was indeed meant to be her brother?

Slowly she approached him as he sat there lost in thought, probably trying to make sense of it all like she was. A small wave was given as she tried to grab his attention. "Hey."

It worked as the boy looked at her with a quizzical expression. "What are you doing?"

"Coming over to talk with you."

"Didn't _'daddy'_ forbid you from having contact with me after everything that's happened?" He mocked bitterly.

"Not as such." Anathema let the snide remark slide. Clearly he was still unsettled by the resemblance that her dad had with his. "Before this whole mess kicked off you and I were getting along really well. It would be a shame for that friendship we made to be so easily broken."

The white haired boy's nose wrinkled at hearing her words. "Don't you get it? There was _no_ friendship. It was all an act to lure you to… _him_."

"That's bull and you know it." She stated confidently now aware that he was just attempting to push her away from getting close to him again. "We clicked back at the Academy. _I_ know it. _You_ know it… Gozaburo's gone now, and so is his hold over you. We could start over, or pick up where we left off-…"

"You don't know _a thing_ about me!" He scoffed viciously over her words.

"Then _tell me_! Let me know! … Please."

Two pairs of blue eyes each emitted a trademark Kaiba stare and became locked in a battle of wills. One pair determined to repelled the other, the second just as determined to breakthrough and bring the first to their senses. Both of them were just as stubborn as each other, though it was Anathema who conceded. Her dad's teachings of his own experiences having taught her that nothing good ever amounted from a needlessly headstrong pride.

"I don't blame you for what happened, and you shouldn't blame yourself either." She backed away a little, finally giving the boy space that he was so desperately fighting for. "Have as much time as you need to think things over… I'll _still_ be waiting here to offer you my friendship."

 _At last she's leaving!_ The white haired boy silently rejoiced as he watched the girl approach the other two who were inspecting the empty metal shell sprawled out on the floor. _She has her father's persistent that's for sure. Shame about the naivety, though that works in my favour right now._ He fingered the locket in his pocket once more and quietly crept over towards the terminal across the room from him whilst everyones' attention was preoccupied elsewhere.

"… managed to fool a lot of people." Anathema caught only part of what the woman was saying to the man as she joined them examining the android who bore her grandfather's face.

"It must have taken a great effort to keep it that way too." The Doctor murmured whilst he pondered, trying to make sense of it all. There was no way that a whole human soul,- not even a compressed one,- could have been stored in such a tiny compartment that they had uncovered. A part of one maybe… but then where was the rest of it? Surely it would have to be somewhere close by…?

"That would probably explain the frequent culling and replenishing of those working for him." Keiko pointed out one of the shocking facts that her undercover contact had discovered before their demise. "Dead men can't reveal any secrets that they may have stumbled upon."

"That's true." The timelord agreed, still lost in his thoughts. "Well, for _the most part_ at least; the dead _don't usually_ talk."

"H-how long do you think he's been this way?" Anathema managed to find the courage to join in the conversation. "You know, dead? His _real_ body that is?"

The Doctor frowned and shook his head. "Wouldn't have a clue. Could be fairly recent, or it could have been years."

"Years?!" The girl gasped.

"Now that's a scary thought." Keiko mused aloud. Maybe her nephew might know more on the situation? She glanced over to where she had left him, his face still practically vacant as he sat there looking down at the floor. "You okay over there Mokuba?"

"Hmm?" His face was drawn up from it's down position. "What was that Aunt Keiko?"

"Nothing. Just checking you're okay." She smiled after changing her mind about questioning him. He'd been through a lot already, quizzing him could wait.

The timelord's view was also drawn to the boy but distracted by a flashing light several terminals away from him. "What's that?" He went to investigate with the green haired girl closely on his heels. "A countdown?!"

"Hey, _that's_ my locket!" She pointed to the slot in the control panel were the locket had been placed like some kind of activation key.

"What's _'Colossal'_?" The Doctor asked as he read the programme's name flashing on screen below the countdown that was at less than five minutes.

"That's Gozaburo's ultimate weapon!" Keiko exclaimed as she and her nephew now joined them. "Don't tell me that he managed to activate it?!"

"Okay then, I won't." The timelord nervously ran his sonic screwdriver over the terminal in an attempt to halt the programme but failed to succeed as the device died in his hold. "Oh for once I would just like a screwdriver that _doesn't_ short out on me when I need it the most!"

"Can you um, deactivate it some other way?" The boy asked curiously in an attempt to mask the fact that it had been him to have started the countdown just a few moments earlier. "If you _don't_ then the US will soon be nothing more than a giant crater."

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious." The Doctor replied as he now tried removing the locket. No luck, it was stuck tight. "I hope Seto's aware of this and can manually overwrite the programme himself on the main computer system."

As though somehow speaking his name had summoned him, the CEO strode into the room at a fast pace. He wasted no time in heading over towards the terminal that they were all gathered around.

"Er, we have a situation on our hands here!" The timelord took it upon himself to be the one to bare the bad news and face the wrath that could possibly be heading his way.

"I know, and I'm on it." Seto simply replied as he took over from where the other man was standing. He began pressing seemingly random combinations on the panel's keyboard system.

"He couldn't do it, so what makes _you_ think that you can?" The white haired boy glared up at the man he'd taken a disliking to.

"Well you see kid, the Gozaburo of this timeline _didn't_ differ much from the one I knew." He began to explain whilst still cycling through all of the possible combinations that he had known Noah to favour in his codings. "And the truth is that _my_ stepfather was just a _lazy_ , plagiaristic _snake._ He stole _a lot_ of what made his company from other people and claimed their work as his own. Very rarely would he take a fine tooth comb and examine his acquisitions and all their data, which is _exactly_ the case here…" A loud beep and flashing of light signalled that a combination was finally accepted and a hidden sensor was slowly revealed as it rose from within the control panel. "… This programme happens to be one of my stepbrother's _bastardised_ creations. Having known just what a piece of _low life scum_ his father was, he was smart enough to add override procedures to everything he ever programmed."

"Very clever!" The Doctor praised. "How's it work?"

"Just a few drops of blood from _any_ member of the Kaiba lineage will be enough to cancel the command."

"Ah!... I see a slight flaw in your plan Seto. You're _adopted_. You don't share their DNA."

"Oh _do try_ to keep up Doctor." He smirked as he drew out the swiss army knife from his pocket. "Anathema, I need your help."

Nodding her head she stepped forward, knowing what it was that had to be done to stop the counter that was now in it's final minute. "Will it hurt?" She asked offering her hand to the only man she entrusted her life to.

"A little." Seto confirmed. "It'll just be a swift tiny cut though." He pressed the blade against one of her fingertips only for it to sink right through without leaving a mark as his daughter began to fade. _Huh..? Jack must have summoned Shinato!_ "Sorry Kiddo, but I have to act fast." The apology was given as he raised the blade once more and swiftly brought it down right in the palm of her hand where she was still visually solid.

Anathema's cry filled the air as the metal sliced through her skin. A second cry then came in a wave as her hand was pressed firmly down on the sensor. Her blood oozed out to cover it completely as well as her dad's hand as she gradually faded to nothing and the countdown stopped with just over ten seconds to go.

 _8888888888888888888888888888888888_

A bright ray of light appeared directly beneath the giant deity on the duelling field. As it faded, the green haired girl was left in its place as she stood beneath Shinato, hunched over with her hand drawn close to her chest.

" _Aw yeah_!" Joey whooped. "You did it Jack!"

The captain looked amazed as he stared at the monster he'd just summoned which had also conjured its actual owner. _Well what do you know? Seto was right all along._ A smile beamed on his face, though it soon disappeared as the girl cried out in pain.

"Anathema!" Rebecca exclaimed at seeing her nice injured and rushed to her side. "What happened to your hand? Let me see."

"D-dad d-did it, and with reason to." She explained whilst gritting her teeth and trying to stop her sobs and blood from dripping everywhere. "He could have told me it'd _frigging hurt_ though!"

Her aunt's face grimaced at the sight and then applied pressure to the wound. "Let's get this cleaned up." She then looked over her shoulder and shouted, "Jack, you're going to have to duel on your own for a while whilst I see to this."

"What?!" He looked horrified at what he'd just heard. She couldn't be serious? "No, y-you _can't_ leave me, I still need your guidance."

"You'll be fine." Rebcca assured. "You've mastered the basics and summoned the hardest of the monsters required already."

"You c-can do it uncle Jack." Anathema now gave her support. "Dad believes in you and s-so do I."

He couldn't argue with her. Who was he to tell a child that they were wrong regardless of whether or not it was true? He watched them both leave the playing area so that only him and the luscious blond remained with their in-progress card game.

"Are you going to end your turn already or what?"

"What?" The captain snapped out of his trace watching the woman and girl leaving the room. "Oh, yeah, of course… It's your move Joey."


	11. Chapter 11

**As always, thank you FutureStar27 for leaving a review**

 **:)**

 **Chapter Eleven**

"Talk about cutting it close." Seto smirked as he held up his hand and stared at the bloodied palm.

"You've got some explaining to do." The Doctor spoke in a less than pleased tone at what he'd just seen.

"Where would you like me to start?" A handkerchief was pulled out of the CEO's trouser pocket and Anathema's blood calmly wiped away.

The timelord's eyes narrowed disapprovingly. "How about with the orphan girl from the time that the Daleks stole the Earth?" He challenged the man whom it was now clear had been hiding a secret right under his nose. "That was Anathema wasn't it? Your _stepbrother's_ daughter whom _shouldn't_ have even been born on your timeline!"

"Lucky for us she _had,_ otherwise we _wouldn't_ have stopped him." Seto's view left the vexed looking Doctor and redirected onto the white haired boy. "Didn't expect your plan to be so easily foiled did you?"

"What?" The boy seemed startled by the man's words but stood his ground. "I didn't have anything to do with this!"

"Hmph, I'm sure you didn't."

"Seto!" Keiko was appalled at the way her brother was treating his own son… er, alternate son? Would she ever wholeheartedly accept this other timeline business? After all, she _had_ been across and back over it herself. Yet still there was some doubt. "Seto _look_ at him! He's just a child. A _scared_ , innocent child!"

"Pfft, that's were you're wrong." He now began pacing just feet away from were the boy had foolishly backed himself up next to the huge screen and control panel. "Are _you_ going to tell them or shall I?"

"T-tell them what…?"

" _Tell them_ , what you _did_ to her nephew! _Tell them_ , how you _murdered_ him to take control of his body to use as your own. _Tell them_ , how you had so many people fooled… Go on, _TELL THEM_ , Gozaburo!"

"What?!" Keiko stared on at the boy clearly intimidated by his own father who had just made such an absurd accusation. "This is _Mokuba_. Even if he was manipulated, he's _not_ that tyrant."

"E-e-exactly." The boy stuttered.

"Bullshit." Seto scoffed and forcefully grabbed the boy by the collar of his clothing.

"Seto, that's enough!" The Doctor now felt the need to step in before things got really out of hand. "Let the boy go."

"Not until he's admitted everything." He stared hatefully at the boy whose gaze was no longer shocked but instead had hardened to meet his. _Perhaps you could do with a little persuasion?_ His hand reached to his gun holster pulled out his Beretta.

A loud gasp left Keiko's mouth as she watched the scene before her: Her brother with a gun pointing directly at his own son.

"How does it _feel_ Gozaburo? To be _weak_ and _powerless_ in my grasp? To know that _I_ could end _your_ life at anytime of _my_ choosing?" There was a hint of madness in Seto's eyes that seemed to grow with each question that had been asked. The corners of his mouth sharpened in a crazed smile and his finger was just inching to pull the trigger. "Correction, _not_ 'could end your life', but 'WILL' end your life-…"

" _ENOUGH SETO!_ " The timelord roared and gingerly stepped forward as he continued to try and talk sense into his friend. "You've made your point, but just look at you. _LOOK_ at what you're becoming. It's _exactly_ what your stepfather would have wanted."

At hearing those words, Seto froze and his eyes wandered to the gun in his hand. _He's right, this isn't me. This is the kind of ruthless bastard that I vowed NEVER to become. How did I get to this point? Am I strong enough to turn back?…_

The look of self doubt had been noted by the boy who then taunted the CEO. " _Kill me_ if that's what you wish!" It worked as the hateful eyes focused back on him. "But let it be known that, I, AM, _NOT_ , GOZABUR-..!"

 _ **BANG!**_

"OOOOOOH!"

"Oh my god! Dad was right, you are crazy _and_ dangerous!" Keiko sobbed after having watched the bullet pass through her nephew's foot. There was a feeling of deep betrayal in her heart from the brother she had undoubtably loved all her life. "All the times I stood by you, looked up to you and defended you! I _believed you_ when you said that you took up working for Kaiba Corp because you wanted to create the best defence system to keep people safe. Guess I should have seen who you really were when it became apparent what this company actually stood for!… I'm just glad that Mom, Dad and Kisara aren't here to see what you've become."

"Don't you see what he's doing Keiko?" Seto asked as she continued to sob from seeing the warning shot he had fired. "He's _manipulating_ our minds; taking _advantage_ of our emotions and thoughts in order to play us off against each other!" He turned to the timelord who was still inching closer towards him. "You see it, don't you Doctor?"

"Oh I see it _perfectly_ clear Seto." He assured, now just an arm's length away. "And I'm sorry." Without warning he swung out his hand holding tightly on his sonic screwdriver and struck the other man in the face.

Seto's grip on the boy in his hold was released instantly as the fist impacted against him. Together they,- and the Beretta,- fell down to the floor. The boy scrambled away as far as he possibly could in his injured state whilst Seto himself was now unconscious were he lay.

"And _THAT_ is why I only resort to violence in _extreme_ circumstances!" The Doctor said as pain raged through the hand that had delivered the knockout to his friend.

"Mokuba!" Keiko ran towards her nephew, only to be held back by the timelord as he took a firm grip around her arm.

"I'd leave him alone if I were you."

"But he's hurt!"

"That may be so, but just look at him. He's what, 12? Still a child who's _just_ been on the receiving end of much hatred from a man that greatly resembles his father. _Accused_ of being a murderous tyrant. And _let down_ by the pair of us who promised him just a short while ago that we would let no harm come to him. Oh, and he's been _shot_ … Now tell me, just what kind of emotional state would that leave him in? Remember, he's _just_ a child."

Keiko stared at her nephew who despite wincing from the pain in his foot was calmly trying to stand by using the nearest control station for support. _After everything that's happened surely Mokuba would be scared? Perhaps evening crying and cowering away from us? Unless…?_ Her eyes widened as realisation hit home. "Seto _was_ telling the truth!"

Upon hearing the woman's exclamation, the boy's eyes drifted over to the pair of them. Gozaburo now knew that his cover was fully exposed so there'd be no point in denying it any further. He looked directly at the timelord. "If you believed what your friend said then _why_ attack him to save me?"

"He's not my friend,- well that's what he'd want me to say I'm sure,- and what makes you think that I knocked him out to save you?" Inquisitive brows rose and created multiple creases on the Doctor's forehead. "For all you know, I may want the honour of killing you for myself."

"You don't have what it takes to get rid of me." Gozaburo spat through the pain raging in his foot. "From what I've seen of you, you are nothing but _weak_."

"He's not weak, only merciful, which is far from the way I'm feeling!"

"Let go of that negativity Keiko, it'll do you no good either. Now come on, help me move Seto."

The boy's lip curled in disgust at not having been able to faze or coax the timelord into his game. He watched as the man and woman bent down and prepared to pick up the unconscious CEO just a few feet away from him. _My plan's not thwarted! I'll just take what I can get here!_ His fingers reached around to the back of his pant's waistband where he had concealed the fallen gun just moments before as he'd edged himself back from them. It was expertly drawn and held right in front of him. " _Freeze Doctor!_ Turn around _slowly_ and don't they anything funny."

"Why not?" He asked calmly and drew his hands back from underneath Seto's arms. Slowly he raised them into the air with his palms open in surrender and turned to face the white haired boy once more. "I mean, it's not like you _intend_ to shoot me; you'd have done so already if that had been the case. You don't strike me as the kind of person who'd have any qualms about shooting a man in the back. What do you want?"

"I _need_ a new body." Gozaburo began explaining his plan with the intention of the reveal to intimidate the other. "The whole point of me taking over this pathetic child's was to veil my _own_ takeover."

Keiko stood watching and listening to what the evil bastard,- that had destroyed every aspect of her life and everyone else whom she had known,- had to say. Her blood was still boiling from learning that the reunion with Mokuba was not the happy occasion she had first assumed. She tried to dispel the anger and distraught felt, just like the Doctor had told her to, but hearing how her innocent nephew had been used was proving it to be an impossible task to overcome.

"With my original body gradually growing older and weaker by the day, I needed a new vessel to house my soul. The one you deactivated earlier,- that still contained a slight fraction of my essence,- was fine to keep up appearances and mask my charade. But with machinery having so many flaws, to settle for anything _less_ than human was _not_ an option. And so I designed a system that would enable me to inhabit the body of another and made the switchover a year ago. The 'mechanical' me would be seen to raise this runt as his own, and then when the time was right _I_ would take over; no questions asked. However, upon _'questioning'_ my true spawn to locate his missile key and learning of its location… Well, _that_ then got me thinking and I took a chance on using that so-called 'dimension hopper' of McKenzie's in order to locate my 'living' granddaughter-..."

"You were going to take over Anathema instead since _she_ still carried your bloodline." The Doctor interjected as he caught on to the plan. "Bad guys; _always_ predictable."

"A female ruler of _MY_ empire?!" Gozaburo was outraged at such a thought. " _Don't be ridiculous! Yes_ it was her bloodline I required to provide me with a worthy heir-…"

"You were going to force her to bare your child and _then_ take over _its_ body?!"

" _HIS_ body." He corrected the horrorstruck looking woman that had interrupted him. "Again, _why_ would I want a weak and pathetic female running my empire?"

"You'd be your own great-grandson and father, born to your granddaughter/mother…" The Doctor pondered aloud. "That is _seriously_ messed up! Not to mention one of the few things that remains completely _illegal_ throughout all of time and space-…"

 _ **BANG!**_ \- The warning shot was fired to silence the jabbering fool. It breezed just inches beside the timelord and hit the huge monitor screen on the opposite side of the room.

"Although you may have _altered_ my plans, I will _still_ attain a new body. Even if it is a little _more mature_ than I'd like."

"Trust me, you _don't_ want my body."

"You're right, I don't."

" _Hey!_ " The Doctor seemed genuinely offended that he'd been agreed with. "Why not? _What's_ wrong with it?"

"Your scrawny form indicates next to _no_ muscular strength. Your face is all out of proportion with that abnormally large chin, mouth, nose and ears. And _both_ your hair _and_ fashion sense are atrocious!"

Unable to fathom what was being complained about, the Doctor's fingers fumbled over the facial features that had been mention. They didn't feel abnormally large to him. Perhaps the other's standards were set too high? And as for his fashion sense… He fiddled his bowtie proudly, determined to prove that it was 'cool'. How could other people not see that?

"Oh no Doctor, I don't want _your_ body. I want _his_." Gozaburo pointed directly at Seto. "He's already unconscious, it won't take me much effort to get him to vacate his mind and evict his soul… Now _take him_ into the conversion chamber for me."

The timelord's eyes angrily narrowed on the white haired boy. "That man is _destined_ for greatness no human could even comprehend. He is the light that _wades_ amongst the shadows. The calm that _proceeds_ the storm. His life will fall into the arms of eternity as millions, upon _millions of billions_ of lives throughout the universe will continued to pass on the chronicles he leaves behind… I'm _not_ going to help,- or even stand by and let _you_ ,- destroy all that."

" _Do_ as I said, or else the female get's it." The gun was now pointed at Keiko.

"Don't do it Doctor!" She called out to him. "After the things I said to Seto earlier, I would gladly take a bullet in the hope of redeeming myself."

The boy's jaw clenched in a mixture of frustration and pain from his foot. How the hell were these two not intimidated by him, the great Gozaburo Kaiba? Just because he was in the body of a child, it didn't make him less likely to carry out his threats. Perhaps it was time he should demonstrate it?… "Very well, let's make it so!" With the Beretta's barrel aimed in the centre of the woman's forehead, he pulled the trigger.

" _NO!_ " The Doctor yelled and was extremely thankful when the gun failed to fire.

 _Huh?_ Gozaburo tried firing again but the firearm was out of ammunition.

Keiko saw her chance, charged at the boy and slammed his back on the edge of the control unit. "I'm going to make sure that the truth is known." She hissed hatefully. "Death's _too lenient_ for a bastard like you. I'll make sure you're trialled and punished for _everything_ you've ever done Gozaburo!"

 _I'd like to see you try!_ A flip knife was drawn out of his pocket and stabbed deep into Keiko's arm, causing her to cry out. He pulled it back, ready to stab again, only she'd recoiled to nurse the inflicted wound. Another jolt of pain shot up Gozaburo's leg as his foot touched the floor. Still he was determined to make the bitch pay for attacking him and used all his might to leap at her with the flip knife raised to plunge down once more.

" _KEIKO!_ "

She had perfectly good eyesight and didn't need the timelord's warning to see the boy coming at her. Raising her leg she defended herself with a sharp roundhouse kick to the attacker's midsection. The force and angle of the hit caused the boy to raise from the ground and travel further than she'd anticipated. He smashed into the monitor screen on the wall behind him and was severely electrocuted before dropping to the floor.

The Doctor stared wide-eyed at the lifeless body. This was now his second occasion of witnessing Gozaburo's death and unable to stop it. Just like the first instance, it had been accidental. And also like the first instance, it had been Seto's sibling that had caused it. Was it a case of the split timeline evening itself out? Perhaps to rejoin with the one it had splintered from?…No, that would take at least a millennia or two for enough to have altered before the process of patching itself back together could even begin. Even so, was this the reason why the TARDIS had dropped him where it had? Had she known this was to happen?

He looked over at the shocked looking woman backing away into a corner before she slumped down to the ground. His hearts broke as he knew there was next to nothing that he could do to give her the comfort needed to deal with the situation. She was alone, and just like him, she always would be.

"Ugh…"

Seto's stirring was noticed by the Doctor. He crouched down at his friend's side.

"Ouch, my face!"

"Come off it, I didn't hit you that hard."

"You wanna bet?" Seto wiggled his aching jaw a little. "You can sure throw a punch."

"Sorry, but it was for your own good." The Doctor muttered and avoided eye contact. "For a moment back there I feared that you were slipping back into the darkness, hitting you was the fastest way I could halt it…. Perhaps _next time_ you should just directly say what's going on to avoid further instances like this."

"Practise, _then_ preach." The mocking smile faded almost as fast as it had appeared. "Where's Gozaburo?"

"He's been... taken care of." Sparks still continued to flicker from the smashed monitor behind the timelord. "Keiko was defending herself from him and... it proved to be fatal." A loud wailing filled the room. The Doctor remained where he was but the CEO got to his feet to investigate the woman's sobs. "For her sake and yours _stay_ where you are."

Seto glanced down, curious as to why the other had said that. Past experience told him to heed the warning, but his heart stubbornly overrode it. "She's hurting and needs me." Defiantly he stepped away from the timelord and approached Keiko who sat with her knees hitched up. Her arms were held close to her chest in her attempt to stop the bleeding stab wound. "Hey." He spoke softly and crouched down beside her. "Dumb question but... you okay?"

"No." She whined between sobs. Her whole body shook and she refused to look at him. "I'm s-s-s-sorry I … d-didn't believe… you. Ab-b-bout every-y-ything..."

His eyes caught sight of the blood as she dissolved into more heart wrenching sobs. He gently reached out for her arm. "Let me see."

Keiko hesitated for a moment, causing her crying to ease a little. This man wasn't her brother,- she realised that now,- yet why was he still so caring towards her? She let him see the wound.

"That looks deep." He commented with a grimace and removed his tie which he then began wrapping around her arm. "This'll stop the bleeding for now. Once we get back to base I can treat it with a bout of nano-genes."

"Back to b-base?" She blinked. "You're taking me with you?"

"I'm not just going to leave you here after everything that you've been through… Besides, you're my sister."

"We both know that's not true." She drew her arm back and turned away from him.

The sudden change in her behaviour towards him was,- dare he say it?,- disheartening. All this time he'd spent trying to get her to accept that they weren't 'truly' related, and now that she finally had, when she needed him most, was actually upsetting. He knew all to well what it was like to be utterly alone. To have family and friends snatched away. To be left with nothing but despair. There was no way that he was going to let her face that if he had the means to prevent it from taking hold of the rest of her days.

"Keiko, when we first met I had _nothing_. My whole world and life as I knew it had been erased and rebuilt. I was a mess and unable to accept the changes…. _You_ stood by me, gave me strength-…"

"You ran from me!"

"I know." Seto remained calm from her outburst and looked deep into Keiko's eyes now that she faced him. "But I was able to get my world back _because_ of the kindness you gave me which I've _never_ forgotten… What I'm trying to say is, I _can't_ give you back _'your world'_ , but you would be welcomed to incorporate yourself into mine. You'd have two brothers instead of one, sister-in-laws, nephews, nieces. You wouldn't have to live your life in fear, or want for anything, _EVER_ …"

Touched by what had been said, Keiko's eyes filled with more tears and lips trembled as she spoke, "You'd do all that for me?"

"Of course." Seto assured earnestly. "I _never_ turn my back on family. And that's what you are; a part of my family."

She sobbed and wrapped her arms around him.

He returned the hug and even kissed her long dark brown hair. How he was meant to explain everything to Mokuba and the others he wasn't yet sure, though he knew they would be accepting of his sister from another timeline. Damn it, the Kaiba family tree was going to be a complicated one for his future descendants to trace.

"Thank you." With all the joyful tears in Keiko's eyes, she was unable to see Seto slowly vanishing from their embrace as he was summoned back across the rift.


	12. Chapter 12

***nothing but silence***

 **:(**

 **Chapter Twelve**

 _I'll NEVER mock this game again for as long as I live._ A bead of sweat perspired on Jack's brow as he prepared himself to draw the card for starting his turn. Perhaps he wouldn't have felt so much pressure if there wasn't the lives of his friends on the line? Having the cards written in a language that he could fully understand wouldn't go amiss either.

Out on the duelling field in front of him, he still had 'Shinato' along with 'Lord of Dragons' facing off against Joey's 'Red Eyes Black Dragon' and two facedown cards. In his hand he held two 'Blue Eyes White Dragons',- those cards he knew,- as well as some kind of wyvern that he needed to tribute in order to summon it and a green creepy looking cup thing. His life points were currently standing at 600 and his opponent's 500.

 _Please be something I can play!_ He thought as he picked up the card. Turning it over revealed a dragon shaped flute that caused him to smile. It was the card that Rebecca had told him to keep an eye out for since it had the ability to summon two dragons when played alongside the spellcaster type monster that was already on his playing field. "Alright, I play the 'Dragon Flute' with 'Mr D' here to summon two 'Blue Eyes',- _eyeses_?,- to the field."

'The Flute of Summoning Dragon' was placed into the correct slot on the duel disk, as were the two dragons. Almost instantly the holographic projections of the cards appeared and then so did the two men crouched beneath each Blue Eyes White Dragon.

"Dad!" Anathema shouted joyfully at seeing him appear.

"Jack actually did it." Rebecca grinned as she stood behind her niece with both hands on the green haired girl to stop her from running out onto the duelling field.

"Seto!" The captain called out to his friend who was knelt with arms wrapped around himself. "Get your arse over here! We still need to bring Keiko back and I'm running low on both life points and cards!"

 _Keiko!_ The CEO swiftly rose to his feet and darted off ready to lend a hand in summoning the third of his dragons.

"Seto wait!" After having been mesmerised by the holograms surrounding them the Doctor was too late in calling the other man back. He too then got up from were he was crouched and followed after him.

"Hey!" Joey exclaimed as he saw Jack take off and hand over the duel disk whilst explaining what he had done so far this turn. "Changing over mid-duel; _that's_ against the rules isn't it?"

"Screw the rules." Seto scoffed back in response as he strapped the duel disk to his arm. "I've got a sister to bring back."

"A sister?" The blond was left completely baffled, as were the two female observers.

"I should have the other Blue Eyes on the field in the next turn or two." The CEO spoke to his friend who had seemingly duelled well with his deck.

"Er,… actually, you won't." The captain winced. "The other Blue Eyes went to the graveyard on the first turn."

" _WHAT?!_ "

"Sorry, that was _my bad._ I'm the one who fucked up."

 _Why am I not surprised!_ Seto thought as he glared at Joey before consulting the two cards that had been handed to him. "Is there any reason you _haven't_ played 'Pot of Greed' yet Jack?"

"Yeah, 'cause I _didn't_ have four cards or more removed from play in order to activate it."

The CEO face-palmed at the explanation that he'd been given. "That's _'Chaos Greed'_ which is in Ianto's deck, _not_ mine! This card is _'Pot of Greed'_ , it let's you draw two cards!"

"Well it's not like I could easily _tell_ since the text is in _Japanese_!" The captain shot back. He'd been able to make out the 'Greed' part and had just assumed is was the same as the one that his husband used in his deck. "I'm sorry if I messed up too."

"Don't worry, it's nothing I can't fix." Seto played the spell card and drew two cards.

"'Exchange' and 'Graceful Charity', what do they do?" The Doctor asked as he joined his two friends.

"Do you _mind_ reading out my cards?" The frustrated snark was growled at the timelord. _If this was a tournament duel my opponent would have just been given a huge advantage from that!_

"Seto, a word if you please."

"It'll have to wait Doc, I'm busy." He played 'Graceful Charity' and drew a further three cards. _Damn it, these are all useless to me for this duel!_ He bit his lip in a frown and randomly chose to keep the spell card he'd drawn whilst discarding the two trap cards.

"Playing your spell card activates my trap." Joey declared after having witnessed his boss' disappointed expression and knowing what at least one of the cards being held were thanks to the Doctor saying it aloud. The card flipped to reveal 'Graverobber'. "I'm gonna raid your graveyard for 'Pot of Greed' and add it to my hand."

"Wait, what purpose does that serve?" Anathema pondered out loud as she watched her dad's card now given to his opponent. "It's not like he can play that card until it's his turn, all he did was waste a trap."

"No, he didn't." Rebecca said and smiled proudly at her co-worker using his head for once. "Just watch and see."

"Look at that Rich-boy, _your_ card just became _my_ card."

 _I can see what you've done, there's no need to drop hints. Even so…_ "Give it back, _Mutt_." He jeered playfully in response to the taunt.

"Make me."

"Oh, I intend to…. I play 'Exchange' to force us to swap a card from our hands with each other."

"I got 'Rocket Warrior' and 'Pot of Greed'. _Which_ one do you want?"

"You know damn well which one."

"Okay, but I think it's only fair that we swap a spell card for a spell card, so hand over your 'Megamorph'!"

The spell cards were tossed across to each other.

 _Thank you for that Wheeler…_ "I play 'Pot of Greed' one more time!" _PLEASE let me draw the card that I need…._ 'Polymerization' was drawn and then…. "YES! I play 'Monster Reborn' to resurrect the Blue Eyes in my graveyard!"

Upon activation of the spell card, the third white dragon made her long overdue appearance. However, there was no sight of the woman from across the alternate timeline. "I don't understand…where's Keiko?" Jack asked looking to both the CEO and timelord for answers.

The Doctor sighed. "It's what I've been trying to tell Seto; She's _gone_."

"No." Seto shook his head as he continued to stare at the newly summoned Blue Eyes waiting for his sister to appear. "My heart is in these cards; it _should_ have brought her back!"

"The bond you share with your cards is strong, but it's not strong _enough_."

"Then I guess I had better make it _three_ times as _strong_!" He took hold of 'Polymerization' and slammed it into his duel disk. All three dragons fused together and created 'Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon'.

There was still no sign of Keiko.

"Seto, your cards brought _us_ back because we _originate_ from this timeline." The Doctor explained. "Your sister does _not_. There's _no way_ to bring her back from another dimension-..."

"Oh _yes_ there is!" He looked down at the final card in his hand. _This HAS to work!_ "I tribute 'Lord of Dragons' in order to summon 'Different Dimension Dragon' to the field!" The wyvern-like dragon appeared via a void of light.

Still there was no Keiko.

Silence filled the base as five pairs of eyes fixated onto the CEO whose gaze was on the monsters on his side of the field. His heart finally sank as all hope of bringing the woman back deserted him and his face twitched as he continued to stare in disbelief. _No, this can't be happening! I promised her a new life!..._

Jack was the one to break the silence as he stepped forward and placed a consoling hand on his friend's shoulder. "Seto-…"

"Don't.' The captain's hand was cleanly knocked away and the silence returned. _I couldn't save you Keiko. I'm sorry. Please don't ever think I went back on my word and abandoned you…_

"Sometimes it's not always possible to save everyone like you envision." The Doctor spoke up rather sombrely. "Heck there's been plenty of times when _I've_ failed. And as much as it hurts, failure is _not always_ the disaster that's feared. Lessons are learnt, experience is gained and outcomes are _still_ salvageable to make a positive difference... You may not have been able to bring Keiko back here Seto, but you defeated the threat to her world. Without that tyrant in control, she and the others can begin to rebuild their society into something _better_ than they had known."

The timelord's words were pondered over, yet still the CEO seemed a little unsure. Getting rid off Gozaburo was one thing, but to be left completely on one's own was another thing entirely...

"The Doctor's right." Jack replaced his hand back on Seto's shoulder and this time it wasn't knocked away. "She still has a chance at a better life because ofyour actions. Like you, she's a born survivor... She'll be okay."

"I hope you're right." Both his friends' words were being heard,- and made sense to some degree,- but still there was that niggling feeling. What if Keiko had felt that she'd been abandoned? Abandonment wasn't just losing someone. It was losing someone because they had chosen to walk away, and quite often without the willingness to give an explanation. A complete and utter betrayal of the heart that slashed deep and could have drastically devastating effects. His own past experiences had proven that.

"She will." The captain said assertively. He couldn't allow his friend to dwell on the negativity and needed to distract him. "Finish the duel, show me how it's done."

Seto nodded. This was no time to wallow in the land of 'What Ifs?' He looked across to Joey. "Sorry Wheeler, but your dragon's toast. Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon destroy his Red Eyes!"

"Not so fast!" The blond yelled as the three headed dragon began charging for it's attack. "You triggered my remaining trap card… 'Dragon Capture Jar'!"

All three dragons on the field automatically went into defence mode due to the trap's effect.

"Ha, looks like you forgot that it would also change your Red Eyes' position too."

"Wipe that smug look _off_ your face, of course I didn't forget. My deck contains only _a couple_ of dragons whereas yours is _ladened_ with them. Well worth the gamble, wouldn't you agree?"

"Obviously it _wasn't_ since I have 'Shinato' in play." The fairy-type monster attacked the defending black dragon to send it into a shower of pixels. "Your move."

Joey drew his card and struggled to hide the grin on his face. This duel was his… _IF_ he wanted it. "I've waited for this day for a very, _very_ long time. _Finally_ , I have a hand that will beat you."

 _I doubt it._ Seto thought as he watched the freshly drawn 'Goblin Attack Force' summoned to the field. _Pfft, it's 2400 attack points against Shinato's 3300… UNLESS...!?..._ It was then that he remembered the card he had swapped for 'Pot of Greed'. _His life points are lower than mine so if he activates 'Megamorph' then his monster's attack points will double and be more than enough to destroy Shinato AND my remaining life points! … Shit. He really has beaten me!_ Silently he stared at his opponent fingering the lone card in his grasp. "Well? Make your move and end this."

"But for the duration of this duel I've been up against Jack." Joey spoke his pondering aloud. "If I beat you now it _wouldn't_ be a true victory against you."

"Of course it would! A win is a win, you'd still get to go bragging to Yugi and the others that you've beaten me!"

"Is that what you think I've wanted?" Joey asked with a nervous laugh. On more than one occasion he'd thought that he'd befriended the CEO, only for something to always crop up and smash whatever progress had been made between them. "Look at us Seto. We may not be the best of friends, but 20 years ago would you have honestly thought we'd be standing here like this today? I sure as hell didn't… This duel was all about helping _YOU_ and I think it symbolises just _how far_ we've come since our youth. There's no way I'm going to jeopardise that for bragging rights. I surrender."

 _What you mean is that you don't want to kick me whilst I'm down._ Seto thought as he watched the blond place his palm over the top of his duel disk. _That's where you and I differed for so long. If only I'd realised that sooner, perhaps things could have been different between us? Although we've made amends, I feel we're far too damaged and set in our own ways to ever acquire such a closeness that you truly deserve…_

"Dad!" Anathema came running up to him and flung her arms around his neck. "I'm so glad you're back!"

"Me too Kiddo." He squeezed her tightly before letting go. He took her locket from his pocket and replaced it around her neck before staring at the bandaged hand. "I'm sorry for stabbing you so hard. Does it hurt?"

"Only a little."

"That's not what you were yelling earlier." Rebecca chuckled as she and the others gathered around the father and daughter.

"Dad, I have a bunch of questions. Like where are we? Why is Joey, Aunt Becky and Uncle Jack here? Is Uncle Mokie and Uncle Ianto here too? When did you get a gun? Does Mom know? Why weren't you surprise by the Rift? Or Gozaburo? Who were Mokuba and Keiko? And who is he?" The girl finished her string of questions by pointing towards the timelord.

Seto's mouth gaped a little as he frantically thought about where would be the best place to start, or if he should even begin in the first place. He couldn't very well tell Anathema his secrets and the things she'd asked, nor could he risk letting her tell anyone else what had happened either.

"Why don't I go and make us all a drink?" Rebecca stated the masked questioning of whether or not a dose of retcon was required. "Then we can all sit down and talk about it?"

The CEO slowly nodded in agreement. He didn't like the idea of retconning his own daughter but what over choice did he have?

"I've got some quadruple choc-chip cookies that we can share." Joey added to divert the girl's attention from her father's sombre looking face. It seemed to work from the excited look she gave him.

"Sounds good!"

"Okay, you three go ahead and I'll join you in a minute." Seto instructed. He watched them leave before turning to Jack and the Doctor.

"Are you really going to retcon her?"

"Yes!" He snapped in response to the captain's question. "It's the only choice I've got, apart from _HIM_ taking her from me!"

"Why would you take her?" Jack questioned the timelord directly.

"Because he _knows_." Seto sneered with a hateful look towards the man he feared would remove the girl from his life.

"What? How?"

"Oh, so _you're_ in on this too?!" The Doctor turned on the captain.

"Actually it's my fault she's here." Jack admitted. "It was purely and accident though. Ya see, when you first left me and Seto-…"

"I _don't_ want to hear! The fact is that _you_ let her remain here on this timeline when _you_ knew she shouldn't! How the heck did you make it into the Time Agency?"

"In all honesty, they're not _too picky_ about who they let in."

The Doctor gave Jack one last disapproving look before he turned back to Seto.

"I _WON'T_ let you take her!" The threatening growl of a protective parent rumbled past the CEO's lips.

"I'm not going too." The Doctor sighed heavily. The timeline was bound to correct itself sooner or later anyway. He just hoped that Seto would be ready for that when the time presented itself... "She seems happy and well cared for here, and her presence has certainly made you a better man."

"Thanks, I guess?" Seto scoffed, not sure if he should be happy or insulted.

"I'll turn a blind eye for now, but _PLEASE don't_ go pursuing any more crazy ideas like you did with the hoppers; yes don't think I've forgotten about those either."

"You have my _'actual'_ word this time Doctor."

"And mine." Jack added.

"Good. Well then, I guess I'll be off." The Doctor took out hie sonic screwdriver but still it refused to work. "Um, I don't suppose one of you could help me locate the TARDIS?"

"I'll help you find her."

"Thank you Captain."

Jack turned to Seto and hugged him goodbye. "I'll stop by later and check on you."

"You don't have to do that." The CEO assured as he pulled back from the brotherly embrace.

"I know I don't _have to_ , but I _want to_."

The Doctor gave a proud but rather envious smile at the sight of the two men. It was the kind of friendship he'd longed for and now dearly missed since loosing both Ponds just a few months back. Would he ever find someone that close to bond with again? He hoped so, yet at the same time also feared it.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

It took Jack and the Doctor around twenty minutes to locate the TARDIS on the streets of Domino. Although it still retained its blue police box exterior, the captain recognised changes,- mainly the addition of the St. John's badge,- from the last time he'd laid eyes upon it.

"She looks amazing as ever!" He gasped whilst running a hand over one of the locked doors.

"Doesn't she just?" The timelord simpered as he watched the other man ogle over his time machine.

Jack continued to grin as he examined the TARDIS one last time before stepped back towards his old friend. "So, where do you plan on going next?"

"Wherever she takes me I suppose." The Doctor shrugged with a sigh.

A curious look was given. "You traveling alone?"

"Not always."

"Anyone at the moment?"

There was silence as the timelord felt his hearts suddenly turn to lead. "I'm… on a break." he finally replied.

"Did you lose her?" Jack tentatively asked upon sensing the heartache being felt. "The wife that you spoke of?"

"I lost her _way_ before I even met her." The laugh was extremely bittersweet. The Doctor turned away to avoid further eye contact with his friend. "But that's not way I'm on a break…" He then suddenly realised that his actions and words may somehow be misinterpreted. Now wanting to cause offence to the man he'd already hurt on a previous occasion, he swiftly added, "And I'm not just saying that as an excuse to _not_ ask you to come with me.

"That's okay." The captain assured. "I wouldn't be able to accept the invitation even if it was given."

"Because of the baby?"

"How did you…?"

"Spoilers." The Doctor grinned at the gobsmacked looking face.

Jack grinned back. Of course he should have known that the timelord would know about his and Ianto's plans to start a family. He was there friend after all, and clearly still going to be around for some time to come.

"Take care Captain."

"You too Doctor."

Farewell salutes were exchanged between the two and then the timelord watched the other disappear before he entered into his TARDIS.

Once inside, he aimless wandered towards the central controls whilst seemingly talking to himself. "There, all done. Crisis averted. Now can we _please_ be on our way? Preferably to somewhere that _doesn't_ involve Seto Kaiba or anyone close to… him…?" His words trailed off as he looked up at the projecting image that represented the CEO's timeline.

Streams of light rose up, criss-crossing and intertwining along the way, which was perfectly normal. What wasn't normal were the fraying strands and new spurts of growth that formed on them. "It didn't change?! Well then _WHAT_ was the point of coming here?" A frustrated fist slammed down on the console as he bitterly scoffed. "Time and lives wasted! _All of it_ for nothing!"

"I wouldn't call it all for nothing." River spoke as she approached from where she'd been stood watching her husband. "You managed to keep Seto away from the darkness and gained a step closer to saving the universe… It's a pity they didn't get to say goodbye though. Some people need closure. Not everyone is like you my love."

As she'd come to expect these days, there was no reply to her words as the Doctor ignored her completely and began entering new destinations into the controls; "I can't take this anymore, what I _need_ is a break! Somewhere quiet. Remote… Well, maybe not _too_ remote. Ah-ha, a monastery! Perfect."

" _Why_ must you do this to yourself?!" The woman shouted with tears forming in her eyes, only for her husband to pass straight through her as he turned and exited the TARDIS at the new destination. Oh how she wished she wasn't dead as she sobbed at being powerless to stop the man she loved from descending further into the darkness that was slowly consuming him.

* * *

A heart-wrenching sob echoed throughout the room as Keiko sat huddled in the corner rocking back and forth. She'd been crying non-stop since the realisation that her brother and the other man weren't coming back for her. How could she have been so foolish to believe that they would? Seto had abandoned her once before, why had she been so blind to think that he wouldn't do so again?

Another wave of continuos sobs came as she buried her head in her drawn up knees. The feeling of loneliness was just too much to bare this time around. Her family were all dead, as were Noah and Roland too. Everyone she'd ever loved and cared about had been taken from her until she was on her own.

Except Seto. He had chosen to walk away and leave her tumbling in this eternal hell that she could not escape. "I hate you!" She blubbed whilst imagining him safe and sound, surrounded by his 'new' family and friends. "You lied to me! Did you ever care at all?…"

"Keiko."

Her sobs paused as she caught the faint sound of her name being whispered. She looked up only to find that she was still alone.

"Keiko."

"W-who's there?!" She demanded with a shaky voice as she frantically looked around but failed to see anyone.

"A friend."

She had no friends, they were all dead. "I'm going mad." A frightened half laugh and sob left her lips.

"Heh, I know the very feeling."

More tears formed in her eyes as she bit down on her lip and desperately searched for the source of the voice from where she sat.

"Poor girl. They left you. All alone. Abandoned. Discarded. Like an old glove-…"

"Shut up!"

For a moment there was silence, but the voice soon made a return. "I was abandoned too… Nobody came in search of me, but I came for you… You don't have to be alone anymore Keiko. I'm here now and I won't ever leave. You have my word on that… Let me help you."

"Where are you?"

"Right here."

Slowly Keiko got to her feet with the hope of gaining a better view of the room. She took another seep around but so nothing other than the lifeless body of her nephew and the robotic shell of the defeat tyrant. "Show yourself!" A tiny bit of courage was found amongst her sorrow.

"I can't." The voice replied. "I'm unable to actually; it's kind of embarrassing… But maybe if you showed me how much you want my help…?"

"How?"

"Just say it. Say that you need my help."

A first she was hesitant, but then decided that she didn't have anything left to lose. Even if she was going insane, there'd be nobody around to see. "I need your help."

"Louder."

"I need your help!"

Slowly a figure began to materialise as if from nowhere and an unshaven man with short blond hair wearing a hoodie now stood before her. "There, that wasn't so hard now was it?" He smiled.

"W-who are you?" She asked with a slight tremble to her voice. There was something about that smile that seem untrue and almost... malicious?

"You know, I don't think I even remember anymore… but you can call me The Master."

As his eyes narrowed on her, Keiko realised that this man's intensions weren't to help her at all. "W-what do you want? I know you're not here to help!"

"There's no getting one past you, is there Missy?…" His eyes then widened in delight, or was that madness? "Oh now that _IS_ a great name to take. It's genius, even for me."

Seeing her chance to escape whilst the crazed man was too focused on his own words, Keiko darted for the door only to find her path blocked as the Master quickly acted in turn.

"Don't go." He pouted. "How are we meant to become friends if you leave, hmm?"

"I changed my mind. I'd rather be alone after all." She raised her fists and altered her stance ready to fight if he should come at her.

"Liar." He taunted and slowly swaggered forward. "It was your loneliness and despair that dragged me from the conjoining lifestream of universes that I'd been occupying… You don't want to co-operate and join forces then that's fine by me. I'm still going to take your body though. I _NEED_ a physical form since my own has been used way beyond its duration and no longer exists."

Without warning the Master leapt at his prey and sneered when her futile attempt to defend herself failed as the woman's fists sailed right through him. He focused his being right into her very core where he would gain control and drive the lesser entity from her mortal existence. Much to his surprise though, it proved a tougher task than he'd anticipated as even with a broken will she still put up a fight. Still, human wills were no match for that of a timelord's.

" _NOOOOOOOOO!_ " Keiko screamed as she felt her very soul being ripped from her body. Dying was extremely painful. Thank god it would only happen once.

When the burning sensation of the takeover process had past, the Master finally took the time to take in his surroundings and caught his new reflection in one of the monitors. What he saw displeased him a little as the endured struggle had caused his new vessel to age a decade or two. Perhaps even three? Even so, it was still salvageable. A new hair-do, make-up and attire overhaul and he'd be good to go.

Glancing down at the lifeless forms of his two fallen pawns caused him to smirk. "You may have taken two of my pieces but I didn't come away empty handed from this my dear Doctor. This body shall prove _quite_ useful, you won't even know what's hit you!"

Laughter began to erupt from the new vocal cords that he would have to get accustomed too. "Guard your king whilst you still can old friend. I will continue to chase until I have you in check. And then finally after all these years it will lead to checkmate!… You can't save him forever; Seto Kaiba _WILL_ fall and the universe shall be all mine!"

A more maniacal laughter now filled the room and then suddenly stopped upon realisation that there was no one around to hear of his plan. "Hmph, it's no fun when it's just me."


End file.
